


Under the Dome

by Aurora1994



Series: Under the Dome [1]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: AU, Blood and Violence, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Probable sex, Supernatural Elements, Supernatural Nicole Haught, Under the Dome AU, slow burn maybe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 23:41:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 41,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21707593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurora1994/pseuds/Aurora1994
Summary: From the text of the first chapter:The woman looked into Waverly's eyes, "not even you, creature, are as pure as you think. This city is as cursed as its inhabitants; does it seem normal to you that a city has the name of Purgatory? No, is it or not? But the real name of this place is Helltory, this city is hell on earth! Today its sinners will die under the falling sky, killing us all! The red-haired woman will come to us! It' coming! The devil will come and drag us to hell!"From the text of the second chapter:"Did you notice the color of her hair?" Waverly asked, sitting in the passenger seat, next to Wynonna.The black-haired woman looked into the rearview mirror, studying the reflection of the woman they had loaded into the back seats of the car, "so?""They're red!" Waverly pointed out." She is not the Devil, Waverly...""I didn't say she's the Devil, I said her hair is red! Come on, Wynonna, everything that woman said is going on!" Waverly turned to look at the woman lying behind her.
Relationships: Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Wynonna Earp/Doc Holliday
Series: Under the Dome [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741378
Comments: 92
Kudos: 102





	1. The Sky Will Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I was thinking about the TV show and the novel "Under the Dome."  
> I have other series unfinished, but I'm stuck. I hope this will unlock the whole creative process.  
> As always, forgive my English, I know it's not perfect yet, but I'm working on it!  
> Let me know what you think, and enjoy it :)

**1**

Everything is calm, it always is, before a storm...   
Waverly Earp looked out the window, her gaze was lost in the horizon of a deep and gloomy sky. In her hands, she held a cup of tea strongly, still hot, but her hands couldn't warm up; the frost she felt inside could not be erased.  
What was the cause of that feeling of apprehension? Waverly didn't know, no, better, she wanted to ignore the cause. Of course that wasn't the first storm in her life, so why did it seem so dangerous and strange this time? Maybe because of those words...?   
"Do you feel it too?" She asked, turn to Wynonna, who was sitting in the chair a few steps away from she.  
"What?" Wynonna asked, raising her head to look at Waverly.  
The girl raised her back, "I don't think I have a proper term to explain it to you... I think you can feel it or not..."  
"Are you alright?" Wynonna's voice was tired, but caring.  
The young woman didn't take her eyes off the black sky, "I think so."  
"Are you still thinking about that woman?" This time Wynonna's tone seemed bored.  
"Yes. She terrified me." Admitted the girl.  
"It's all bullshit." Wynonna got up and joined her sister, standing next to her to look at the clouds. "The sky won't fall on our heads... it's impossible."  
Waverly left the sky to look at Wynonna's face in profile, "What if she was right...? She seemed really convinced of what she was saying."  
"Crazy people are always convinced of what they're saying..." Wynonna shook her head.

**_A few hours before..._ **

Wynonna and Waverly were in town, when a woman with a scruffy and dirty look approached them.  
"The end is coming!" She had yelled at them, a few inches from their faces.  
Wynonna had grabbed Waverly by the arm, trying to get away from the strange woman, but she had blocked their way.  
"It's the end, I tell you! Repent for your sins! The sky will collapse on our heads and we will be punished for our dirty souls!"   
"Here, of dirt I see only you, no offense, old woman." Once again Wynonna had tried to get away from her, but she insisted on not letting them pass.  
"Do you need help? I don't know, I can give you a few dollars if you need it." Waverly had smiled at the woman.  
The woman looked into Waverly's eyes, "you, creature, are not as pure as you think, either. This city is as cursed as its inhabitants; does it seem normal to you that a city have the name of Purgatory? No, is it or not? But the real name of this place is Helltory, this city is hell on earth! Today its sinners will die under the falling sky, killing us all! The red-haired woman will come to us! It' coming! The devil will come and drag us to hell!"  
"All right, that's enough." Wynonna had pushed the old woman, who miraculously didn't fall.  
"Wynonna, no! Don't treat her badly, please." Waverly had asked. "Maybe she needs help..." she had added, in a lower voice.  
"Let's go." So Wynonna had cut off the conversation.  
"The red-haired woman, the red-haired woman will come here! Repent, sinners! The end is near, the sky will fall on our heads!" The woman had continued to shout.

<<>>o<<>>o<<>>>

-Purgatory, really a strange name to give to a city... - this was what Nicole Haught thought, while she was running along a long straight road. Her eyes went from the satellite navigator to the road, like in a strange dance.  
Purgatory would be the city where she would finally realize her dreams, working as a cop. Of course, it was not easy to make the decision to leave New York for such a remote place, but when she had read that the city needed agents, well, she had not resisted: something told her that was the right thing to do. It was like a force, perhaps an invisible and incorporeal voice calling her to Purgatory, or perhaps, more simply, Purgatory promised peace, and that was what Nicole needed.  
The red-haired woman raised her eyes to the sky: a storm was coming.  
She looked at the navigator again, but the screen was black.  
"Don't leave me...!" Nicole hit the screen with her finger. She was focused on the electronic device, so she didn't notice the road sign saying: -Welcome to Purgatory-  
"Well, it's a straight line, isn't it? I don't think I'm gonna get lost, right?" She wondered.  
In the distance she saw something dark brown, maybe a house or something. "I'll ask for information there."   
At that moment, something hit her car with extreme violence.

<<>>o<<>>o<<>>>

"Wynonna!" Screamed Waverly, "What the hell is that?!"   
The black-haired woman was open-mouthed, unable to say a single word, while what looked like a huge sheet of glass, fell to the ground.  
The bang was deafening.  
Wynonna only managed to push Waverly to the ground, while the windows were breaking up and turning into of crazy bullets.  
"Are you okay?!" Wynonna asked, after a few seconds, "are you hurt?"  
Waverly remained lying on the ground, still dazed by the loud noise, "I think so... what the hell was that?!"  
"I have no idea... it seems... I don't know... a sheet of glass or something..."  
"What if more fell? We have to get out of here! Whatever it is, I don't want to die... I really don't want to die!" Waverly felt she was on the verge of a nerve crisis.  
"You're not going to die, I promise." Wynonna got back on her feet.  
"How can you promise me such a thing?! What the hell is going on?! That woman was right: the sky is falling on us!" Waverly screamed.  
"The sky is not collapsing! Maybe it's the transport of something military that fell..." but even she didn't believe it: that thing was gigantic, it covered everything that Wynonna's eye could reach, the whole horizon. "Let's go and see."  
"I don't think that's a good idea..."   
"I don't think there will be any more, and in any case, if something like that falls on our heads, no matter where we are, we will die instantly."  
"That doesn't make me feel better... and how do you know there won't be any more?"  
Wynonna shook her head, "I don't know. I hope so..."

"Look... over there!" Waverly pointed to a distant point, "it seems that the glass sheet has crushed something..."  
Wynonna half-closed her eyes to look toward the border of Purgatory, "I see it. It looks like a car. Let's go and see if there are any injuries!"  
"I'll get the car keys, you call 911!" Waverly had recovered from the initial shock, and now she was able to reason with a clear mind.   
As Waverly ran into the Homestead, Wynonna took her cell phone and typed in the three numbers.  
"Get in the car." Waverly said, returning to the front yard.  
"The phone is dead, it doesn't take the line." Wynonna said, once she got into the car.  
"It doesn't matter. Maybe the lines are blocked by the many calls, I think we weren't the only ones who saw that thing fall. If we can do something for those in the car, then we'll try. Hoping that the sky won't fall between our heads and necks..." Waverly started the engine.  
"Let's go." Wynonna nodded.

"If she's alive, then she's alive by a miracle..." Wynonna looked at the woman sitting in the driver's seat. She was unconscious.  
The car had been literally cut in two, and the woman's back rested on the glass plate.  
"Help me move the car, we have to get her out of there. I keep her, you push what's left of the car, it shouldn't be too heavy, right?" Waverly said.  
"Yes, I think I can do it." Wynonna nodded, "She was really lucky... a few more inches and... I don't even want to think about it..."


	2. Caos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The people of Purgatory are witnessing something that has nothing natural about it.   
> Waverly will have to figure out if the woman she saved is really the devil or just another victim of the glass wall. Will she succeed?  
> Only one thing is certain: no one has ever seen such a thing.  
> The town is in chaos...

**2**

"Did you notice the color of her hair?" Waverly asked, sitting in the passenger seat, next to Wynonna.  
The black-haired woman looked into the rearview mirror, studying the reflection of the woman they had loaded into the back seats of the car, " so?"  
"They're red!" Waverly pointed out.  
" She is not the devil, Waverly..."  
"I didn't say she's the devil, I said her hair is red! Come on, Wynonna, everything that woman said is going on!" Waverly turned to look at the woman lying behind her.  
"The sky is not falling on our heads, that one there is not the devil nor one of his messengers, and that woman was crazy." Wynonna pushed the accelerator: she wanted to get to the city as soon as possible and figure out what the hell happened.  
"Purgatory has always been a strange place," Waverly said, looking back at the road, "haunted houses, mysterious disappearances, people freaking out from one moment to the next... but this.... Wynonna, this is too much even for Purgatory..."  
"Waverly, I guarantee you the world is not ending. We are alive, if we are judged for our sins, then it will be after our death, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm still alive."  
"Give me a rational explanation for that giant glass wall, then."  
Wynonna shook her head, "I don't have it, and you know that."  
Waverly was about to say something, but the breath died in her throat.  
"Oh, damn shit..." Wynonna stopped the car a few hundred meters from the first houses.  
In front of them, Purgatory seemed wrapped in a thick blanket of smoke, which seemed to rise from all over the place. The sound of clacsons, screaming people and other indistinct sounds made the city seem like a place of war.  
"Wynonna...?"  
"I know. Damn it..."  
"Do you think another sheet of glass fell...?"   
"I haven't heard any more roars..."  
The girl nodded, "not even I... but... do you think it's wise to approach?"  
"I don't know..." Wynonna admitted.

<<>>o<<>>o<<>>>

Everybody, no one excluded, had noticed the crash of the glass barrier. Soon there was a general panic.  
As if the glass wall, which had fallen, we do not know how from the sky, was not enough, a few minutes later, a small plane had crashed into it, falling into pieces on the hospital of Purgatory.  
Dead and injured everywhere.   
The city was in chaos.  
"Stay calm!" Purgatory Sheriff Henry Holliday, better known as Doc, was yelling.  
But dozens of other sounds and voices covered his own.  
"My arm! I can't find my arm!!" A man screamed, before falling face down on the asphalt.  
"My son! My son was crushed!" A woman was screaming.  
"We're all going to die! Look at the airplane!" Someone else.   
"May God help us!"  
"My father was in there! O my God, o my God!!!" A boy, covered in blood and dust, cried desperately.  
"The plane crashed into the glass wall! That thing is huge!"  
"Doc, we have to stop air traffic on Purgatory!" said Deputy Sheriff Bob Miller, "We can't let another one fall over the city!"  
"Damn it! I know! But all the phones are dead: we can't communicate!" Doc answered, looking at the mess around him.  
"So what do we do?!" Bob kept his hands in the few, rare black hair.  
"I don't know, I've never seen such a thing... take someone and block the roads that lead to Purgatory from the North, someone else could end up against it. I'll try to calm the crowd down."  
"It's just you and me! Fred's in the U.S.A., don't you remember? And there are no other agents..." Bob shook his head.  
"It doesn't matter! Gathering volunteers, that thing is transparent, almost invisible! Go!"  
Bob Miller hesitated a few seconds, but then ran away.  
"Doc!" A familiar voice in the crowd.  
Sheriff Holliday turned around, but in that sea of people and chaos he didn't understand who had called him or from where.  
"Doc! I'm here!" That voice again.  
Finally, Doc identified the origin of the voice: Wynonna was standing on the roof of a car.  
"Wynonna!" The man ran to the woman. "Are you all right, love?" He asked, when he joined her.  
"I'm fine, but a sheet of glass fell from the sky! Do you understand? A damn sheet of glass!!! Can you tell me what the hell's going on?" She asked, jumping off the roof of the car.  
"Another one?! Where?" The man with the cowboy hat looked tired and upset.  
"What do you mean, -another-? On the border of Purgatory, near the Homestead."  
"Oh, shit! Is Waverly okay?"  
"Yeah, she' in the car, just outside the city. The glass wall fell on a woman's car, we were taking her to the hospital, but the cars are blocking the way."  
"Purgatory no longer has a hospital... a plane crashed into the wall and fell on the structure..." the man said, pointing to the chaos behind him. "Take her to Homestead. Here there are deaths and many wounded... It's chaos... and without a hospital..."  
"I stay with you, we must calm people down and give first aid."  
The man shook his head, "no, go home and make sure no vandals try to get in. In situations like this, is the first thing."  
"Don't argue, cowboy, I won't leave you. I run to Waverly to tell her to take the woman home, her wounds didn't seem serious, and to protect our property."  
Doc was about to protest, but eventually gave up: it was impossible to discuss with Wynonna.

"Go back to Homestead, I'll stay here and help. It looks like there are at least two glass walls." Wynonna said, when she reached the car where Waverly and the red-haired woman were.  
"I don't think that's a good idea, it's dangerous! And I don't even know this woman! What if she's a murderer, or worse: the devil?" Waverly protested.  
"Take the gun from my bedroom, I'll be home soon. I can't leave Doc alone."  
"Wynonna... okay, just promise me you'll come home to me..."  
"I promise." Wynonna lean out of the window and kissed Waverly's forehead, "be careful, little sister."  
"You too!" Waverly said, as Wynonna ran back to the city.  
"Okay... please don't wake up and don't be the devil... please..." Waverly looked briefly at the woman, then inserted the back march and left.

<<>>o<<>>o<<>>>

"At least you're light..." Waverly dragged the red-haired woman's body into the yard, towards the house.  
It wasn't easy, but it wasn't as difficult as she thought, and in the end she managed to put the woman on the sofa in the living room.  
"Okay, stay there." She said, then she ran upstairs to get Wynonna's gun.  
Waverly sat in a chair, a few steps from the couch. She had the gun in her hand, ready to shoot.  
She looked at the woman's visage. Now, more calmly, she could appreciate the beauty of her face: thin and sharp, sweet and severe, simply gorgeous.  
"It seems obvious to me that you are the devil..." she commented.  
"It's the second time you've appealed to me as a -devil."  
The eyes of the red-haired woman were still closed, so Waverly thought she had dreamt of it, but the woman's mouth opened.  
"I'm not the devil." Her light brown eyes rested on Waverly's green ones, "put down the gun."  
Waverly jumped up, pointing the gun at the woman's head, "don't move. How long have you been awake?"  
"Woah! Do you know that it's a crime to point a gun at an agent? Put it down." The woman raised her hands, but her voice was authoritarian and severe.  
"How long!?" Waverly yelled.  
"By enough to understand that something really strange has happened here, and enough to think you're crazy, but not dangerous. Now put it down, I'm a police officer."  
"Yes, of course." Waverly shook her head, "if you try to do anything, I'll shoot you."  
"No, you won't."  
"Don't try me."  
"You're not a murderer."  
"You don't know me."  
The woman smiled, "I see it in your eyes, you're not a bad person."  
"Do you have supernatural powers?" That wasn't an ironic question.  
"I'm a cop. I was going to Purgatory when something hit my car."  
"You're in Purgatory. And your car was cut in two by a glass wall."  
"A what?"   
"A glass wall, it fell from the sky. My sister and I saved you, so now I really don't want to kill you or get you to kill me. I don't really want it."  
"I don't want to hurt you. Explain the story of the wall to me." The woman kept her hands up, but sat down on the couch.  
"Stop or I'll shoot." Waverly threatened.  
"We've already talked about this: you won't shoot me. Tell me about the wall."  
"I know as much as you do,"  
"Nothing?"  
" Exactly." Waverly nodded.  
"Take me to my car so I can prove my identity. I'll drive and you can keep the gun pointed at me, I'll recommend you from the back seat, so I can't disarm you. Okay?"  
"Why should I do what you tell me?"  
"Because I don't see any other way to get out of this situation." The red-haired woman replied.


	3. It's not a Wall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are only getting worse for the poor people of Purgatory...  
> Imagine that something mysterious falls on your city, imagine that you are trapped, and the thing that traps you could even...  
> Waverly and the red-haired woman will have to get to know each other better... judge before knowing, well, can it be dangerous... or can it save your life?

**3**

"Get in the car, yours is over there." Waverly pointed to the horizon.  
The red-haired woman shook her head, "no, we'll walk."  
"What? Why?"   
"It's wise to save gas. We don't know what else will happen, the emergency generators will allow us to preserve the food." Explained, the red-haired woman.  
"Do you think something else will happen?" Waverly asked. Actually, she thought that what the woman said was very smart, but she didn't want to give her any satisfaction... and then you know... the devil is very clever.  
"I hope not. If you don't want to walk, I can go alone."  
"Forget it. If you're as dangerous as I think you are, then I won't let you walk around." Waverly answered. "Start walking."  
"Let's play a game. Do you like betting?" Nicole asked, starting to walk in front of Waverly.  
"I don't gamble."  
"It's not gambling. Just a bet." She reiterated.  
"What do you want?" Waverly gave up.  
"I bet I'm a cop." The woman smiled.  
"I bet you're not. So?"  
The woman smiled, "in case you win, what would you want?"  
"I'll shoot you in the leg and wait for someone to come and arrest you." Waverly replied.  
"On what charge?!" She almost laughed.  
"I don't know... for declaring that you're who you are not."  
"All right, but if I win, you'll kiss me... on the mouth." The woman turned around and gave Waverly a mischievous smile.  
"What?" Waverly stopped walking, but didn't lower the gun.  
"You got that right. So, are you in?"  
"You really want a bullet in your leg..."  
"No, I'm going to have that kiss." She smiled, and started walking again.

<<>>o<<>>o<<>>

"At least we were able to extinguish the fire... if it had rained, we would have done so much sooner. Why isn't it raining? The sky is black, and I see flashes of lightning..." Doc scratched his head under the cowboy hat.  
"It's strange, you're right. But we were good." Wynonna answered, stroking her husband's arm.  
"Doc! Doc, sheriff!!!" Bob Miller came running.  
"Calm down, Bob, what's going on?" Doc asked, watching his deputy panting loudly.  
"Breathe..." Wynonna said, looking with concern at the man: she was afraid that he would die, there, in front of her.  
"It's terrible! Oh, God..." Bob still couldn't talk.  
"What's terrible? What else happened? Calm down and answer." Doc said, leaning his hand on Bob's shoulder.  
"The wall isn't a wall... we're surrounded... it looks like this thing surrounds all of Purgatory... it looks like a damn dome..."  
"A dome?!"   
"This could explain the absence of rain... shit." Wynonna raised her eyes to the sky.  
"We're trapped..." Bob sat on the ground. "And that's not the worst thing..."  
"God... what else...?" Wynonna didn't know if she really wanted to know.  
"If you touch the wall, the dome... in short, what the fuck is... you die." Bob started crying, "Mario is dead... he literally disintegrated before my eyes..."  
"Shit! We must warn everyone! Let's split up! No one should touch the dome!" Doc yelled.  
"Let's take different directions and warn everyone, they'll have to spread the word too. I'm going west!" Wynonna said, looking around.  
"Love, please, be careful."   
"You too. I love you." Wynonna kissed Doc's lips and started running. She prayed that Waverly was busy with the red-haired woman, and that she would stay away from the dome.

<<>>o<<>>o<<>>

"Poor car..." the woman shook her head, "I just had it repaired..."  
"I'm sorry... I think." Waverly said, continuing to keep the woman under fire.  
"Do you think? You have to be sorry! Look at her... red and beautiful..." she seemed to be looking at the mutilated body of her daughter and not at a car. "Poor Morgana..."  
"Did you give it a name...?" Waverly was puzzled.  
"Of course I did! She had a soul..."   
"Okay..."  
"You can't understand..."  
"No, I don't understand."  
"I see."  
" Fine."  
"Perfect." The woman shook her head, she looked really offended by Waverly's insensitivity.  
"Where's your document, allegedly policeman?"  
"In the glove box..." Nicole approached the passenger door.  
"Stop! You might have a gun in there. I'll open it myself." Waverly made a sign to her to move away.  
"Of course I have a gun! I'm a cop! Damn..."  
"We'll see. Now get away."   
"Whatever." She walked away a few steps.  
Waverly opened the glove box without losing sight of the woman.  
"Shit..." the girl took the documents and Nicole Haught's badge.  
"Do you believe me now?" The woman approached, sure that Waverly wouldn't shoot her.  
"Listen, I'm really sorry! I feel like an idiot, but all the things that happened today... the old lady... your hair... I'm really sorry!!!"  
"What is wrong with my hair? Don't you like red?" Nicole asked, recovering her properties from what was left of Morgana.  
"It's complicated... I'll explain everything to you. I just hope that you can forgive me..." Waverly felt really stupid... Geez, she threatened a cop.  
"I think I'm gonna arrest you. Do you know your rights or should I list them to you?" The woman's face was serious and severe.  
"No, listen... really, I'm sorry..." of course, her sister's husband was the sheriff, but it wasn't time to play that card yet.  
"Corrupt me." Nicole's tone was firm and low, almost threatening.  
"So you'll have another excuse to arrest me..." Waverly didn't know what to do, "and I don't have enough money anyway..."  
"I don't want money." She replied.  
Waverly hesitated, "What do you want then?"  
"What's rightfully mine."  
Waverly was puzzled, "I don't understand..."  
"I won the bet, you owe me a kiss." Despite the absurdity of what she said, Nicole's tone remained serious and formal.  
"Are you kidding...?"  
Nicole shook her head, "I never joke about these things." So she approached the girl.  
At that moment, Waverly realized how tall Nicole was.  
"Can I kiss you?" Nicole asked, lowering herself to the height of Waverly's face.  
"Do I have a choice?" Even if she had, Waverly would still have chosen to kiss Nicole: it's not every day that she meets such a beautiful woman. And she didn't want to look like an easy girl to pick up, she certainly wasn't.  
"Sure." Nicole straightened her back and left Waverly.  
"But..."   
"Do you have any spray cans? We have to signal the presence of this wall on as many roads as possible... this thing is almost invisible."  
Waverly didn't answer, she was speechless about the woman's behavior.  
"Who knows what the hell it is...?" Nicole's hand slowly approached the surface of the dome, "it looks like glass, but it's more transparent."  
"I don't know... anyway, I have spray cans at home." Waverly said, approaching behind Nicole.  
"Good," Nicole's hand touched the dome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little curiosity:  
> If you've read the series "She's a Demon" you'll remember Morgana. Well, the name Morgana appears here too, and do you know why? I'm about to tell you: I was madly in love with Morgana Pendragon, played by the beautiful Katie McGrath in the Merlin series. I had given the name Morgana to my first car, she was red and beautiful... I miss her so much. My current car is called Ruby, she's also red xD. I have a tradition to give a name to anything I think has a soul :)


	4. The Horror Around Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to say:  
> Any religious reference is not intended to offend or contradict anyone's faith. Everything I have written or will write serves only the purpose of the story.  
> I am not a believer, but I respect the thought and faith of all.  
> Thank you.

**4**

Wynonna Earp had never seen a battlefield, she was lucky. But what she had before her eyes was a macabre and sick spectacle: blood, ruins, dust and flames, and the smell... burnt flesh and hair, the smell of copper and iron... the smell of death.   
It was all so damn surreal and wrong.  
There was not a single breath of wind to dispel that stench of death and desperation.  
"If this is hell..." she didn't end the sentence, No, that wasn't judgment day, no matter how frightening and horrible it was, no, there was an explanation that wasn't to be found in the Bible, but only in the actions of the human being.  
"Hey!" She yelled when she saw a group of people gathered in circles; their bodies hid something from Wynonna's sight.  
"He's dead..." One of them said, as he moved, he let Wynonna see.  
The body on the ground was that of a young man, just a little more than a little boy. It was a limbless bust in a pool of blood and dust.  
"I'm so sorry..." Wynonna looked away from that macabre spectacle, and she repressed a conato of vomit. She doubted that anyone could ever get used to such a thing.   
"You must not touch the dome for any reason or you will die. You have to spread the information to everyone you meet!" Wynonna looked at the faces of everyone present to make sure everyone understood.  
"Dome? No... no, it's a joke, isn't it?" A woman screamed. "It can't be..."  
"Are we trapped?"  
"Who's responsible?"   
"It's probably the action of the government, motherfuckers!"  
"It was definitely the government!"  
"I don't want to get trapped in this death trap!"  
"It can't be the work of man! Here is the paw of the devil! Lucifer is among us!"  
"How is it possible that it is a dome?!"  
Wynonna moved away from them, leaving their screams behind her.  
A few hundred meters later, Wynonna met a woman.  
"You don't have to touch the glass wall for any reason, please spread the word!"  
"What about the wounded?" The woman asked her as she approached her.  
Wynonna shook her head, "the few doctors who survived the collapse of the hospital are doing everything they can..."   
"My daughter needs to go to the hospital!" The woman yelled.  
"There is no longer a hospital..."  
"Do you have a car? I have to take my daughter to the hospital...!"  
" Lady...I...I'm sorry." Wynonna left her: she understood that the woman had lost her mind.  
"You can't leave me like this! Bitch! What if it was your daughter? I have to take her to the hospital!"  
Wynonna started running.  
She hid around the corner of a house and, letting herself slip to the ground, cried. She wept for the sense of helplessness, for the horror her eyes had shown her, and for all that suffering.  
"Why us...?" she put her blood-soaked hands on her face; her crying became desperate.

The show that Sheriff Doc Holliday was surrounded by, unfortunately, was no different than Wynonna's.  
Protecting the city was his duty, but how do you protect people from something you don't understand? From something too big for you?  
He couldn't save them all, he knew it.  
The only thing he could do now was try to limit the damage.  
He had to warn as many people as possible, and pray that no other catastrophe would strike the city of Purgatory.  
"Where are you, God?!" He cried out to heaven. "Help us..."

<<>>o<<>>o<<>>>

The left hand of the red-haired woman touched the glass wall.  
The pain felt was unprecedented: it was something unknown and dark, but at the same time... it was also so pleasant and reassuring; like a sense of belonging... like a mother's embrace.  
It was beautiful and wrong, so painful and right.  
It was as if everything finally went in its place.  
"Fuck!!!" Nicole Haught quickly portrayed her hand.  
"Are you okay?!"  
"I'm fine! I'm fine..." Nicole looked at her hand, but there was no trace of all that pain or that feeling on her skin. "Never touch it."  
"I'm not going to touch that thing... but are you sure you're okay?"  
"Yes, I'm fine."  
"Your eyes... were blue..." Waverly looked at the woman's face.  
"I doubt it."  
"I know what I saw."  
"My eyes are brown."  
"Now, yes."  
"No, they always have been."   
"Nicole... I know what I saw. Why do you do that?"  
"No, Waverly Earp, you don't know what you saw." Nicole smiled and looked intensely at Waverly's eyes.  
"You're right... I was wrong..."  
"What color are my eyes?"  
"Light brown..."  
"Have they always been?"  
Waverly nodded, "yes."  
"Have they ever changed color?"   
"No."  
Nicole smiled.  
Waverly had the feeling that she had lost consciousness for a brief moment.  
"Are you okay? You're not going to faint, are you?"  
"No, I just had a dizzy... it's a really intense day. Your hand is okay?"  
"Look." Nicole held out her left hand to Waverly.  
Waverly took it in her hands, "you're left-handed..."  
"I am. Is something wrong?"  
The girl shook her head, "no, of course not... only, I had never met a left-handed person... is fascinating."  
"Do you think so?"  
She nodded, "you use the right hemisphere of your brain more than the left one... it's beautiful."  
"In my opinion they are all legends... even though I have to say I'm good at math and military strategy."  
"Military strategy?" Waverly continued to look at Nicole's hand.  
"I liked playing war games... oh, and chess... I love chess."  
"I like chess too, but I'm not very good at it..."  
"We could play, sometimes... I like games." Nicole smiled, her smile was wonderful, but... at the same time... wrong. Now that the woman was so close, Waverly caught another detail, Nicole's smell: a slight aroma of sulfur.  
"I'd love to."  
"Okay, let's not waste any more time. Let's go home and get the paint cans."

"Do you have a map of the city? I want to see which and how many roads lead to Purgatory." Nicole asked, while she was putting the third spray can in the backpack that Waverly had given her.  
"Yes, I'll go get it." Waverly left the room and came back a few seconds later, "there it is."  
"Thank you." Nicole opened the map and began to study it.  
"Why do you do it?"  
Nicole lifted her head up and looked at Waverly, she didn't understand the meaning of her words and said, "I don't understand..."  
"I know it's the right thing to do... but you're not from here."  
"Protecting people is what I swore to do. A shepherd must always take care of his flock." Nicole answered, returning to look at the map.  
"It was a stupid question... Sorry..."  
"No. You didn't mean what you said. You just wanted to get some information about me. You want to understand who I am. But you don't need to play games with me: I will always answer your questions." She said, without looking up.  
Waverly was confused for a few seconds: didn't she expect such... sincerity? Intelligence? Shamelessness? Whatever it was, she didn't expect it. It was as if the woman had read her mind.  
"I didn't want to offend you, if that's what I did... sorry."  
"You didn't offend me. But I like to make things clear right away."  
"Are you really going to answer any of my questions?"  
"Sure."  
"Thank you..."  
"I'm new here, but I'm also a cop; without the trust of my citizens I can't protect you."  
"Why did you come to Purgatory?"  
"To work as a cop."  
"But why exactly here?"  
"I saw that you had few agents."  
"Where did you come from?  
"New York City."  
"Do my questions bother you?"   
"No. Am I giving you that feeling?" Nicole closed the map.  
"No..."  
"Good."  
"Can I come with you?"  
"Sure."  
"Really?"   
"Sure. You're much more useful out there: you know the place."  
Waverly nodded, "Do you think more will fall?"  
"No."  
"How can you be sure?"  
"We're under a dome."  
"A what?"  
"A dome."  
"How can you say such a thing?"  
"Did you see the sky?"  
"Yes, but how does that answer my question?"  
"It's not raining." Nicole answered.  
"But..."  
"There's no other explanation." Nicole headed for the door, "Come on, we got a lot to do."  
Waverly hesitated a few seconds before following Nicole: the news left her speechless.   
Under a dome... in a trap...


	5. Lucy

**5**

"I'd prefer not to take the car, as I said before: we need gasoline."  
"I have bicycles..." Waverly avoided looking at Nicole's face.  
"And couldn't you have told me that before?" Nicole looked at the girl.  
"How could I ride a bicycle with a gun in my hand...? And then, with those long legs, you would have escaped easily..."  
Nicole laughed, "okay. You're right, but you can ride a bike even with one hand."  
"I'm too fond of my teeth..."  
Nicole laughed again, "all right, where are the bicycles?"  
"In the barn." She replied, then took her cell phone, "I would like to send a message to Wynonna, but the cell phone still has no line."  
"Pen and paper...?" Nicole began to walk towards the barn. "And then, that thing will have cut all the cables, we will not have electricity and or telephone signal, as long as there is the dome."  
"Right..." Waverly ran into the house.  
Nicole had no problem finding the bicycles: they were leaning against the entrance to the barn.  
"They don't seem to be used much... look, they have cobwebs." Nicole said, beginning to raise the saddle to adapt it to her height.  
"No, in fact... we don't use them very often, not anymore." Waverly nodded.  
"For what reason?"   
"I started college, far away from here, and Wynonna always uses the van you see over there." Waverly pointed to an old blue van.  
"I understand."  
"Why did you ask me that question?"  
Nicole smiled, "I'm a curious person."  
"Okay... do you think this dome is the work of the government?"  
"Why did you think about the government?"  
"I don't know..." Waverly raised her shoulders.  
"I don't know how to answer your question."

<<<o>>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

After a couple of hours, Wynonna returned to the spot where she had separated from Doc and Bob, looked around, but didn't see either of them.  
The city was slowly trying to recover from the shock: in the streets there were no more corpses, the only memory of them was the blood that still stained the asphalt. Some tried to clean up the rubble; others took care of the wounded, helping the few remaining doctors.  
In all the points of the city that Wynonna had explored, to spread the information of not touching the dome, she had not witnessed acts of looting. In the end, Purgatory wasn't as bad as the city. Everyone was working together to help each other, as a true and solid community. What reason would God have to punish them, then? No, that was not the work of the Divine...   
Why the hell had she thought of the Divine? She hadn't believed that story from the very first moment, why think about it now?  
Wynonna shook her head and tried to think clearly.  
She approached a group of people who were digging under the rubble of the hospital in search of survivors.  
"I'm sorry, if you see the sheriff, can you tell him that I'm back home? I need to see if my sister's okay."  
"No problem." One man nodded, but he didn't stop digging.  
"Thank you."   
Wynonna started walking, it would have been a long walk: the Homestead was about three miles from Purgatory, and she was really tired. But the thought of finding Waverly and making sure she was okay made the effort go away.

<<<o>><<<o>>><<<o>>

"The first road is three miles from here. It won't be necessary to mark the one I was on, I think that poor Morgana will be enough." Nicole said, flanking the dome.  
"All right." Waverly replied, pedaling alongside Nicole.  
"I didn't introduce myself properly, however, "Nicole turned to look at Waverly, "I'm Nicole L. Haught, I just got out of the police academy, and this would be my first day of work. I'm not extending my hand to you because I know you care about your teeth." Nicole smiled amusedly.  
"I'm Waverly Earp,... what's the 'L' for?"  
"Waverly... what a beautiful name. You know, it's funny, but until a few minutes ago I didn't remember there was a letter between my first and last names." She smiled.  
"How is that possible?"  
"Who knows?" She smiled.  
"Can I assume that you don't want to answer my question?"  
"Of course you can, but as I said before: I'll answer any questions you may have." Nicole kept smiling.  
"Sorry..."  
"Don't apologize. You don't know me, but you'll learn to do it."  
They pedaled in silence for a while,   
The first road was only a few dozen meters from them.  
"What is it?" Waverly asked, pointing to what looked like a white spot on the horizon.  
"It looks like an animal... maybe a goat." Nicole answered.  
Nicole was not wrong: there was a goat in front of them.   
The animal began to bleat.  
"Poor little, she must have separated from the rest of the flock." Nicole got off her bike and approached the animal.  
"Beeeeeeh" The goat ran towards Nicole as if she were her mistress with a piece of bread in her hand.  
"She seems to like you..." Waverly commented, she was a bit surprised: she had never seen a goat behave like a dog.  
Nicole lifted her head to answer Waverly, at that moment she saw a big truck approaching, about a minute and would crash into the dome.  
"She's pretty, isn't she?"   
"It is... I think..." Waverly answered.  
Nicole looked at the truck, approximately 40 seconds.  
"I wonder if there's a farm around here...?"  
"Actually, no, ours is the last one left in Purgatory." Waverly replied, continuing to give her back to the dome.  
30 seconds...  
"I see, who knows where she' coming from?"  
"I have no idea..." Waverly replied.  
15 seconds...  
"Oh, fuck! There's a truck down there, we have to stop it!" Nicole started running, followed by Waverly and the goat.  
The front of the truck crumpled against the barrier like a can of empty beer.  
"Shit! "Damn it!!!" Nicole screamed, letting herself fall on her knees. "It's all my fault... if I hadn't let myself be distracted by the goat... fuck!"  
"It's not your fault, Nicole..."   
"Shit... the driver is dead for sure... that thing seems indestructible..."  
"We did everything we could..."  
"It's not enough, if I had been more alert... fuck!" Nicole shook her head.  
The goat began to lick Nicole's face as if it were a piece of salt.  
"See? Even she thinks it's not your fault. There were two of us, I wasn't even looking at the road." Waverly kneels in front of Nicole, "there's nothing we can do for him anymore, but for the others there yes, are still two roads to go. My sister and the sheriff must have taken care of the others.  
"Then let's not waste any more time, let's go!" Nicole got back on her feet and ran to get her bike back.

<<<o>><<<o>>><<<o>>

-I'm out. The woman we saved is a cop, I'm with her. I'll be back soon.  
Waverly.-  
Wynonna read the few lines several times, but found no clue that could tell her where Waverly was headed. Sure, not out of Purgatory, but that wasn't enough.  
What was she supposed to do?   
If Waverly had touched the dome... God, she didn't even want to think about it.  
Red and blue flashes caught Wynonna's attention. She looked out the window and saw that, where there was what was left of the red-haired woman's car, there were many flashing lights: police, firemen and who knows what else.  
Finally someone out there noticed them... no, wait! Fuck! They didn't have to touch the barrier!  
She ran out of the house and took the van.

<<<o>>><<<o>>><<o>>>

"Okay, you mark this. I'm running to the last road to mark." Nicole threw a spray can at Waverly, immediately after she started pedalling again, followed by the goat.  
"I'll wait for you here!" Waverly screamed, Nicole was already far away. She hadn't been wrong: those legs were really long and powerful.

"Do you have a name?" Nicole was pedaling more slowly now: Waverly couldn't see her anymore, but she still had to mark the wall or make sure that something had already ended up against it.  
"No, Mistress." The goat replied.  
"What do you think of Lucy? Uh? As an abbreviation of Lucifer."  
"It's an honor, Mistress."  
"It's nice to have an ally. Sometimes you feel alone."  
"Someone like you, Mistress?"  
"I am the most lonely of the creatures... the most misunderstood of creation..."  
The goat... Lucy, she walked in silence alongside Nicole.  
"I don't like following the rules, that was my condemnation... and now I'm being punished again, trapped in a place that looks worse than hell."  
"What will you do, Mistress?"  
Nicole smiled, "I'll try to make this purgatory a fun place."

  
  


  
  



	6. Outside and Inside

**6**

More Wynonna got closer to the cars and vans beyond the barrier, more there was something she didn't understand... but what?  
The sound! Sure, that's what was weird about it! The vehicle sirens were definitely on, so why didn't she hear anything? Though that barrier didn't seem so thick...  
The black-haired woman came down from the blue van and ran towards the barrier, waving her arms, "don't touch it! Don't touch the barrier!" She didn't know if they could hear her, but she had to try.  
The officers and firemen around there seemed surprised, it's true, but not particularly agitated; Wynonna thought she had arrived on time.  
"Can you hear me?" She asked, when she was just a few steps from the dome.  
A fireman carried two fingers behind his ear: no, they didn't hear her, exactly as she didn't hear them.  
"Don't touch the dome!" Wynonna pointed at the barrier and shook her head. Maybe some of them were able to read the lips.  
The same fireman, perhaps misinterpreting Wynonna's gestures, placed his hand on the dome.  
The woman closed her eyes: she didn't want to see a man disintegrate right in front of her.   
She waited a few seconds, the sound could not help her to understand, and a part of her was happy that it was not there: she would not want to hear the screams of that poor fireman or his colleagues.  
But when Wynonna reopened her eyes, the fireman was still in front of her, alive and well.  
"What the hell...?"  
Maybe it only worked from inside the dome?  
Wynonna turned around, she wanted to take a pen from the van so she could communicate with them. At that moment, looking at what was left of the red-haired woman's car, she remembered one detail: the woman's back was leaning against the dome when they found her... why had she remained alive...?   
She looked at the fireman's hands: he was wearing gloves... maybe it only works against naked skin? No... Mario, Bob Miller's friend who had been killed, was always wearing work gloves... always... so what was the explanation? Of course, she hadn't seen Mario die, but she doubted that Bob had lied, and she certainly wouldn't have touched the dome to find out...  
Wynonna left those thoughts aside and ran to the van. She took a pen from the glove box, then went back to the dome.  
-What's going on?- She wrote on the palm of her hand.  
The fireman turned to look at his colleagues and the policemen, told them something, but Wynonna couldn't hear it, she saw that other mouths were also moving, but the sound continued to be absent.  
The fireman raised his shoulders and shook his head: they didn't know.  
"Perfect..."  
Wynonna erased the ink and wrote: -can you help us?-  
The man raised his shoulders again.  
"Shit!"  
The fireman made her sign to wait, then he went to one of the fire trucks, came back a few seconds later with a blackboard and a marker.  
-How big is this thing?- He wrote.  
-It surrounds all of Purgatory. Dome.- Wynonna wrote, in response.  
-How many people are trapped?-  
-All Purgatory.- Then she added: -block planes, up here.-  
The fireman raised his thumb, -already done.-  
"It's something..."  
-Did you find an opening?-  
The fireman shook his head.  
"You haven't even looked for it yet or you wouldn't have asked me how big it is..." Wynonna shook her head.  
-Don't leave us alone.-  
The fireman raised his thumb again.  
Wynonna nodded and went back to the van, she wanted to walk all over the barrier and look for her sister and an opening in that damn dome.

<<<o>><<<o>>><<<o>>

"A car is coming..." Nicole raised her head and looked at the horizon, where a blue van was fast approaching.  
"Hello." Nicole said greeting the black-haired woman.  
"What are you doing?" That was the woman's answer.  
Nicole pointed to the barrier, "can't you see it? I'm preventing someone from going up against it."  
"Oh, good job. Wait a minute... you're the woman we saved! Where's my sister?"  
"You're talking about Waverly, I guess. Along the dome, no more than two miles from here. We split up to finish the job first."  
"All right, get on the van."  
"In the future it would be better to save gas. Oh, and she's coming with me." Nicole said, dragging the bike towards the van and pointing to the goat.  
"I agree with you about gasoline: emergency generators... wait a minute... are you talking about the goat?"  
" She is Lucy." Nicole nodded.  
"All right, put the goat and the bicycle on the back of the van..."

"I'm Nicole L. Haught, by the way. Thank you for helping me." Nicole said, when she was sitting next to Wynonna on the car.  
"My name is Wynonna Earp, I'm the sheriff's wife. Nicole, you called this thing 'dome', how do you know?"  
"Intuition." The woman smiled. "Tell me something about your husband."  
Wynonna turned to look at Nicole, "what?"  
"He's my boss now."  
"Oh, right... you're a cop. He's a good person, a good husband and a good cop." Wynonna replied.  
"I can't wait to meet him then."  
"Anyway, the dome must not be touched... I hope Waverly..."  
"She won't touch the barrier." Nicole answered.  
"How can you be so sure?"  
"I told her not to do that."  
"Why? Did you see something?  
"No, but I touched it and it wasn't pleasant." Nicole replied.  
"Why are you still alive?"  
"It seems like you' re disappointed, but I haven't had time to let you hate me yet." Nicole laughed.  
"You misunderstood me... I'm just surprised. A man died, touching it." Wynonna replied.  
"Shit... did you know him?"  
"Yes."  
"I'm sorry, Wynonna."  
"Thank you..."  
"Look, I see Waverly." Nicole pointed to the truck that had crashed in front of Waverly and her.  
"Thank God..." Wynonna sighed.  
"God has nothing to do here..." Nicole answered.  
Wynonna turned briefly toward her, but she chose not to comment.  
"Wynonna!" Waverly dropped the can on the ground and ran to embrace her sister.  
"Are you okay, baby?" Wynonna held her arms tightly around Waverly.  
"I'm fine... Doc?" Waverly moved away from her sister's body so she could look at her face.  
"We split up a few hours ago, but I think he's fine."  
"Well," Nicole approached them, "I need to talk to the sheriff: we need to get organized as soon as possible."  
"You managed to mark the barrier or..." Waverly asked.  
"No one else will crash. "Nicole smiled at her.  
" All right, back to Homestead, maybe Doc's home." Wynonna went back to the van and went up there.  
"Get in, I'll put your bike in the back." Nicole picked up the bike and smiled at Waverly.  
"Thank you, Nicole." Waverly also smiled at Nicole.

Doc was in the front yard of the Earp property; a smile was drawn on his face when he saw Wynonna's blue van on the horizon.  
After Wynonna, Doc and Waverly had gathered and made sure everyone was okay, Nicole came forward.  
"I'm Nicole, the new officer of Purgatory."


	7. Organization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're alone, really alone.  
> There is no time to waste, every detail can make the difference between the life and death of many people.  
> Nicole Haught has a clear idea of how to organize the city, but not all of her ideas may please.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe this chapter won't be one of the most exciting, but I have to lay the groundwork for what's to come next.  
> Maybe I shouldn't justify myself.  
> Is that a sign of weakness? It doesn't matter, I prefer to recognize my limits. Also because the chapters are not very long, it might not like it, but I try to update the story as quickly as possible; it is not very easy for me to work on texts that are too long: my mother language is Italian.
> 
> But, I take this opportunity to thank all those who are reading and supporting this new FF on Wynonna Earp, thanks to all <3

**7**

"New officer...?" Doc took off his cowboy hat to scratch his head, "oh, sure! Nicole Haught, from NY, if I'm not wrong. I'm glad there's a new cop among us. I would have preferred the circumstances to have been calmer, but... well, it's a pleasure. I'm Henry Holliday, but everyone calls me Doc, the sheriff of Purgatory." The man held out his hand to the woman.  
"My pleasure." Nicole shook Doc's hand. "I noticed that there are policemen and firemen down there, did you manage to communicate with them?"  
The man shook his head, "they know as much as we do."  
" In other words, a whole lot of nothing. I tried to talk to them too..." Wynonna said, looking at the horizon.  
"It doesn't matter, they can't help us out there anyway. We're alone, that means if we don't get organized right away, well, we're screwed."  
"Nicole helped from the very first moment. She immediately suggested to mark the presence of the dome on the roads to avoid accidents." Waverly smiled at the red-haired woman.  
"Nicole Haught, thank you for immediately putting yourself into action to safeguard our city. It's something I won't forget." Doc gave a friendly pat on Nicole's shoulder, "Purgatory needs people like you now more than ever."  
"I just did my duty, sheriff, and this is now my city too."  
"Welcome to our team, Officer Nicole Haught." Wynonna also smiled at the woman.  
"Thank you all for your kind welcome." Nicole smiled at everyone. "But now it will be better to study the next moves: we do not know how long that thing will remain on our heads, but one thing is certain: resources will be limited."  
"You're right, let's go inside." Doc invited Nicole to follow him.

"Do you drink, Nicole?" Wynonna put a glass in front of the red-haired woman, and she waited with a bottle of rum in her hand.  
"Sure. Thank you, Wynonna." Nicole smiled at her.  
"So, how do we organize ourselves? Every suggestion is useful." Doc started sipping his glass of liquor.  
"Water. How is Purgatory supplied?" Nicole asked.  
"Through a natural basin... but..." Doc hesitated, he had understood the gravity of what he was about to say.  
"Let me guess, it's out of the dome." Nicole crossed her arms to the chest.  
The cowboy just nodded.  
"Aren't there any wells?" Nicole looked at those present.  
"There's one, but it's been abandoned for years... we don't know if it's dried up." Waverly replied.  
"I'd say the first point we have is: until we know if the well can provide us with drinking water, well, we should ration our reserves." Nicole stretched out her arm and took the glass of Rum. "We can't allow ourselves to waste anything."  
"The second point, as Nicole suggested, is fuel savings, not only for emergency generators, but also for pollution, we can't breathe toxic air." Waverly said.  
"Good. Water, air and electricity... what's missing?" Nicole finished her glass.  
"Food." Wynonna answered, extending the bottle towards the red-haired woman.  
"Thank you, Wynonna." Nicole took the bottle and spilled more Rum, "That's right, food."  
"Luckily that won't be a problem, at least for a while: we have all the supplies set aside and then sent to some charity. They were supposed to leave tomorrow." Doc replied, "not everything seems lost."  
"It's not." Nicole nodded.  
"Well, I say we split up and start organizing the city." Doc got up, "Nicole, come with me, I'll show you Purgatory and introduce you to the inhabitants. In the meantime we will begin with the bases we have established".  
Nicole got up too, "I also need a uniform, I'm not very credible in jeans and t-shirt."  
"Waverly and I will go to check the well, it's not too far from here, we can walk and you can get the bicycles." Wynonna finished her glass of Rum.  
"Does Purgatory have a bicycle shop?" Nicole asked, "on foot and by bike will be the only two allowed ways to get around, since long trips are no longer possible".  
"We are so lucky, yes." Wynonna nodded.  
"Well, then I say we don't waste any more time, let's go. The night will come soon."  
Nicole headed for the door, followed by the other three.

"I threatened Nicole with your gun." Waverly said, walking alongside Wynonna. "I really thought she was the devil..."  
Wynonna kept herself from laughing, "if she was really the devil, do you think a gun would have stopped her?"  
"I was scared... I wasn't thinking lucidly..."  
"Nicole seems like a good person, I think she's already forgiven you. Don't worry." Wynonna answered, smiling at her sister.  
"She never got angry, actually... has been very kind from the very first moment..."  
"But...?"  
Waverly shook her head, "I don't know, Wynonna... there's something strange about her... she is practically perfect..."  
"Do you like her?" Wynonna looked at her sister, then added: "She's objectively very beautiful."  
Waverly hesitated to answer, "yes, she is. But it doesn't seem strange to you that the dome fell at the exact moment Nicole crossed the border in Purgatory, I mean, the exact moment!"  
"Waverly..."  
"No, just listen to me for a moment, Wynonna... you can't have forgotten that woman's words!"  
"I have not forgotten them, Waverly, especially because you make it impossible to forget... she may have been a psychic, but her words have not literally come true: one, the sky has not fallen on our heads, we are under a damn dome, two, we are not dead, and three, the devil is not among us."  
"Maybe you're right, Wynonna... but I want to find that woman and ask her for explanations, maybe she knows how to get out of this transparent trap."  
"If I'd known something like that, the fuck I was staying here!"  
"You're not wrong... if only we had listened to her... now we'll be out of here." Waverly looked at the sky, still black.  
"We'll get out of here... I promise."  
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Wynonna."  
The black-haired woman stopped, "I said we're gonna get out of here, okay?"  
Waverly nodded, "All right, Wynonna... we'll get out of here."  
"That's how I like you. Look, there's the old well."  
"Let's hope it's full of water..."  
If God wants..." Wynonna thought back to the words of the red-haired woman, but she decided to put that thought aside.

<<<o>>><<<o>><<o>>>

"I can tell you something, sheriff." Nicole was pedaling alongside Doc.  
"Call me Doc, we're colleagues now. Even if I'm your boss, I don't see why we should use such unnecessary formalities."  
"All right, Doc." Nicole didn't turn to look at the man, but kept looking at the asphalt. "I didn't want to say it in front of the girls, but there's still something to talk about."  
"I'm listening to you, Nicole. Tell me everything you have to."  
"We can't predict when and if the dome will disappear, so some laws will have to change... we'll have to eliminate the superfluous, the rubbish."  
"I don't understand." The cowboy looked at the woman, but she wasn't looking at him yet.  
"I'm not going to go around it, I'm going to go straight to the point, Doc, I'm talking about murderers, rapists and thieves." Finally Nicole turned to him.  
"We don't kill people, Officer Haught."  
"And when the children will have no more food or water? Even then, will we choose to keep alive people who we don't need, but who are actually damaging?" Nicole shook her head, "I'll take that responsibility. But from today, every citizen of Purgatory will have to respect the new rules or will pay the consequences."  
"No. We are not murderers. I understand what you're telling me, but what if the dome disappears tomorrow or in a week's time? We would have killed people for what?" The tone of his voice was altered by emotion.  
"Not people, criminals."  
"The speech ends here." His ice blue eyes stopped on those clear hazelnut of her, "clear?"  
No, the speech did not end there.  
"Yes, sheriff." Nicole looked at the road in front of her again.  
"They'll have reduced rations... that's the end of the story."  
"You're the boss here." Nicole replied.  
"I don't want any problems between us, Nicole..." Doc said, after a few meters.  
"Neither do I. I'm sorry, it was fear that made me talk." Nicole turned to look at Doc.  
"I know you're scared, we're all scared. I'll forget everything you said, as long as you never talk about it again. All right?"  
"You're a good person, John Henry Holliday. You don't deserve to be here."  
Doc wondered when he told Nicole his full name, but then he thought it might have been Wynonna or Waverly, and after a few meters, he forgot.

<<o>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

"Fuck!" Wynonna emptied the contents of the bucket that she and Waverly had pulled up from the old well, "sand, nothing but fucking sand."  
"What do we do now, Wynonna? Not a single drop of water will fall from the sky..."  
"Shit, I don't know. I was really hoping for that in this well..." Wynonna threw the bucket back into the well.  
"The water rations will be enough for no more than one or two weeks... this means that we couldn't even cultivate the fields... even the food will run out..."  
"Okay, you know what? Maybe we're in hell, after all..." Wynonna looked at the sky, wondering if God was laughing at them up there.


	8. Hope

**8**

"Have you seen Bob Miller?" Doc asked, when he and Nicole arrived in the city centre.  
"Where do you want him to be, sheriff?" A man answered, shaking his head.  
"I don't have any words... thank you Tom." Then he turned to Nicole, "come, I'll show you the police station."  
"I didn't understand the situation: who's Bob Miller and where is he?" Nicole asked, following Doc.  
"The deputy sheriff... and he's at the bar, obviously." Doc answered, shaking his head.  
"This kind of behavior can't be tolerated, not in a situation like this."  
"You're right, Nicole, for this reason, the city of Purgatory will soon have a new deputy sheriff." Doc replied.  
"I don't want to make enemies on my first day at work..."  
"You, Nicole, have done more in these hours than he has in ten years... it's a question of merit." Doc answered.  
Henry couldn't see the disturbing smile that had appeared on Nicole's face.  
"Then I'll be happy to accept the promotion, sheriff."  
"Good. Come, I'll give you the new uniform."

<<<o>><<<o>>><<<o>>

"Luckily we have an Italian aunt." Wynonna looked at the bottles of water gathered in her basement, "she's so attached that the tap water is not good to drink, that in the end had convinced me."  
"When we get out of here, Aunt Maria will be the first person I'm going to hug." Waverly said.  
"A journey to Italy... why not?" Wynonna smiled at the thought.  
"For now it will be better to fill all the canisters we find, until we finish the one on the tap." Waverly said. "Even if it's not going to be much, I guess..."  
"You're right... probably the dome has cut all the pipes... wait a minute...! How deep are the water pipes?"  
"Quite... I think. Why do you ask?"   
"Because there's no way to get past the dome from the surface, so..."  
"The mines! Maybe the dome isn't so deep!" Waverly concluded Wynonna's sentence.  
"That's right! When I went around the barrier to look for you, I passed near the mines, they are inside the dome!" Wynonna saw hope come back on.  
"It's going to be dark soon, but tomorrow we have to try it!" Waverly smiled, maybe Wynonna was right after all: they would come out of there.

<<<o>>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

"Thanks for the uniform. It's just my size." Nicole admired the new black clothing, the black: the total absence of light... she liked it.  
"Now you're perfect." Doc smiled at Nicole. " Let's go, no matter how much Bob is an asshole, we need him too."  
Nicole nodded.  
"No, just a minute... I'm gonna need this." Doc opened a locker and took a megaphone. "I don't see any other way to get attention."

"Bob, follow me, there are some things we need to say to each other." Doc approached the table where Miller was sitting.  
"What's the rush, sheriff? We're stuck here." He was obviously drunk. "There's no hurry, why don't you introduce me to this beautiful red lady instead."  
Nicole remained silent, she wanted to order Bob to follow them out, but she couldn't question Doc's authority in public.  
"I told you to follow me, Bob."   
The man drank the glass of beer, "listen, Mario died in front of me a few hours ago... I'll have the right to console myself... that damn dome freezes my blood."  
Mario... maybe he's the man Wynonna was talking about. Nicole had to know more or could not realize her plan.  
"I swear to God, Bob, you follow me out or I'll humiliate you here, in front of everyone."  
Bob Miller stood up and his hand went to the gun, "I won't let you talk to me like that!" He threatened, pointing the gun at Doc's chest.  
The people inside the bar all turned around and watched the scene.   
"Put the gun down, Bob, and I'll pretend I didn't see anything. You're drunk."  
"NO! Enough, I'm sick of your attitude, you've never shown me any respect!"  
Bob Miller would pull the trigger, Nicole was sure. But that was exactly what she wanted.  
"Now you're gonna get down on your knees and apologize, then I'm gonna put the gun aside."  
"That won't happen, Bob." Doc shook his head.  
A few seconds and Bob would shoot the sheriff.  
"Kneel down or I swear I will shoot you! I am the law now!"  
"Put it away immediately!" He yelled.  
At that moment, the bullet left the barrel of the gun.  
Nicole's right hand pushed Doc, and her left hand grabbed the gun, a second after the bullet hit her flesh.  
Panic broke out in the room for a moment.

<<<o>><<<o>>><<<o>>

"Do you think we should give Lucy some water? I don't think the grass she eats contains enough of it." Waverly said, as she and Wynonna filled the cans with water.   
"Who the hell is Lucy?"   
"Nicole's goat." Waverly replied.  
"Oh... right. It's really a strange pet to have... but it's in theme with the situation..." Wynonna closed the water before taking another canister, not even a drop had to be wasted.  
"What do you mean?" Waverly passed another canister to Wynonna.  
"You know, don't you? The devil is represented in the guise of a goat..."  
"God, Wynonna..." Waverly shuddered.  
"What? That was a joke, I was just kidding: neither Lucy nor Nicole are the devil... relax, little sister."  
"Please don't joke about that... it scares me."  
" Geez, okay." Wynonna shook her head, but her mood was too good to let go of Waverly's fears: tomorrow they would come out of that damn dome.

<<<o>>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

"Nicole!" Doc screamed, getting up.  
"I'm fine." Nicole had the gun, which she had managed to snatch from Bob's hand, pointed at him.  
"Please... don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Bob Miller threw himself on his knees in front of the red-haired woman. "Don't shoot me..." he joined his hands in prayer.  
"I'm not a murderer." Nicole answered, but she didn't lower her gun. "Sheriff, do you have handcuffs?"  
"God... are you sure you're alright? Your arm..." Doc looked at Nicole's left arm, which was dripping, staining the floor with blood.  
"Yes, but I'm not right-handed, the gun is heavy for this hand... could you cuff him?" The woman replied.  
"Of course! Immediately!" Doc pulled out the cuffs.  
When Bob Miller was made incapable of causing damage, the crowd that had been silent until then, burst into a chorus: "NICOLE! NICOLE! NICOLE!"  
"You saved my life..." Doc looked at Nicole with sincere gratitude.  
"I didn't do anything special." Then she raised her voice, so that everyone could hear her words, "that's what a community does! We protect each other!"   
Another shout from those inside the bar, "Nicole! Nicole! Nicole!!!"

After Bob was put behind bars...  
"You deserved it." Doc gave Nicole a silver star, "Deputy Sheriff Nicole Haught."  
"Thanks, Sheriff... you could... you know, my arm..." Nicole smiled at the cowboy.  
"Sure!" Doc fixed the star on Nicole's chest. "Let's go home, your arm needs care."  
"It's little more than a scratch."  
"You've lost a lot of blood." Doc looked at the woman with concern.  
"My heart was accelerated: it pumped more blood and faster, but now I'm calm and the wound doesn't bleed much more."  
"Let's go home anyway: soon it will be night and the streets are dark. For today we have done everything in our power. And this..." Doc put the megaphone back in place, "I'll use this tomorrow to announce everything we've decided on rations, and introduce the new deputy sheriff to everyone. The city already loves you."

<<<o>>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

Wynonna and Waverly were in the barn.  
"Here you go, Lucy." Wynonna caressed between the animal's horns, "water is something no one should be denied."  
"I can't look at it the same way anymore, not after your words, Wynonna..."  
"Oh, come on, Waverly... she's just a goat."  
"Beeh." Lucy began to suck the water out of the bucket that Wynonna had brought her.  
Waverly was about to say something, but Doc's voice calling Wynonna prevented her from doing so.  
"What's going on, Henry?!" Wynonna, followed by Waverly, ran out of the barn.  
"Nicole's hurt!" The man answered.  
"No, it's just a scratch... don't scare them, Doc." Nicole, smiling, approached as she got off her bike.  
"What happened?" Waverly approached Nicole and, in the last light of day, she saw the wound, "shit... does it hurt?"  
Nicole shook her head, "it's not pleasant, but it's not so terrible either."  
"Come into the house, I have to medicate you." Waverly took Nicole's healthy arm and led her to Homestead.  
"Love... are you alright? What happened to Nicole?" Wynonna hugged Doc.  
"Bob's freaked out. Nicole took a bullet to save my life."  
"Shit... Are you really okay?"   
The cowboy nodded and kissed his wife's lips. "Let's go light some candles or we'll soon see nothing more."  
Wynonna nodded, and together they entered into the house.

"...and Nicole pushed me, took Bob's gun and stopped him!" Doc was saying, while he was spilling drinks for everyone.  
"Doc is exaggerating: it wasn't as heroic as he describes it, I was dying of fear... I just reacted instinctively." Nicole accepted the glass Doc offered her.  
"Well, instinct or heroism, the fact remains that you saved my life. I drink to Nicole Haught, my savior and new deputy sheriff of Purgatory!" Doc raised his glass, and Wynonna and Waverly joined him.  
"To Nicole!" They said in chorus.  
"Thank you..." Nicole smiled and emptied her glass.  
"Now come with me, your wound could get infected." Waverly took a candle and invited Nicole to follow her up the stairs.  
While Waverly and Nicole were leaving the room, Wynonna said, "I think I have some good news."  
"Really?" The cowboy attracted Wynonna's body close to his: he wanted her.  
"Hold on a second, cowboy, we have all night..."  
"I missed you and I had a fucking fright to lose you today..." he started kissing her neck, and she decided that the story of the mines could wait a little longer.


	9. The Story of Nicole Haught

**9**

"Sit there. I'll take something to disinfect. And you keep the candle, so I can see."  
Nicole nodded and sat on the edge of the bathtub, while Waverly searched in the bathroom cabinet.  
"Thanks for taking care of Lucy."   
"It was Wynonna..." Waverly answered, taking some disinfectant and gauze.  
"Don't you like goats?" Nicole's tone was amusing, but Waverly's was serious when she replied, "Goat... It's like saying the devil..."  
"Still with this story of the devil...? Poor Lucy, she's just a poor little goat..." Nicole shook her head. "You're not one of those idiots who treat black cats badly because of superstition, are you?"  
"I've never hurt even a mosquito... much less a cat..."  
"That makes me happy."  
"Does it?"  
"Yes." Nicole smiled.  
"Are you an animal lover?"   
"All but one."   
"Which one?"  
"The human being." The smile disappeared from Nicole's face.  
Waverly had a shiver, "okay..."  
"Now can you tell me the story of the devil? And then, between us, the devil has never really hurt anyone, we want to count the dead during the universal flood...?"  
"Don't you think that's blasphemy? But I don't think I want to deal with such a controversial argument... everyone has their own ideas."  
"And it's right that it should! What is a human being if he cannot at least think freely?"  
"Yeah, maybe..." Waverly placed the bandages next to Nicole, "can you take off your shirt?"  
"I understand you don't want to talk about it, but could you at least tell me why you called me 'devil' twice today?"  
"Can we deal with the matter after I've healed your arm?" Waverly opened the disinfectant bottle.  
"We can." Nicole started unbuttoning her shirt.  
"Do you want me to turn around...?"   
Nicole looked at Waverly with a surprised expression, "are you able to cure me without using your eyes?"  
"No... okay, what I said didn't make much sense... I was trying not to make you uncomfortable..."  
"The one who is uncomfortable here, is you, but you don't have to. I won't do anything to offend your purity, I promise."   
"Okay... thank you... I think..."  
"You think too much, Waverly Earp." Nicole got out of her shirt, staying in her tank top. "As you can see, it's just a scratch: the bullet just touched me."  
"Can I?" Waverly asked, resting her fingers near the wound.  
"Do whatever you have to do."  
"It's gonna burn a little..." Waverly warned, before pouring some disinfectant on the wound.  
Nicole studied Waverly's face profile, so close to her face, she looked at her ear, cheek and eye: Waverly's pupil was dilated...fear, emotion, concentration...excitement; it was all Nicole saw.  
Nicole's lips rested on Waverly's cheek, she immediately felt her skin become hot under them, "thank you..." she whispered.  
Waverly swallowed, but did not answer.

"You were really delicate, I didn't feel anything." Nicole looked at the bandage around her arm.  
"I'm glad..."  
"Good. I'd say now that I'm gone..." Nicole stood up and took the shirt she had left on the washing machine a few minutes earlier.  
"Go where?"  
"I don't know yet... maybe in the barn, Lucy might like my presence." Nicole replied.  
"Am I giving you the impression that I don't want you here...?"  
"A little bit. But I'm not offended, don't worry: I know you don't know me. And then I took advantage of your welcome too much." Nicole smiled again and walked towards the door, leaving the candle resting on the edge of the bathtub.  
Waverly wanted to find a way to stop her, "Wynonna and Doc are having sex, you can't go through the living room..."  
Nicole turned to her, scratching her head, "I would have preferred it not to be made so obvious..." but eventually, she laughed.  
"And then... don't you want to know why I called you 'devil'?  
"Yes, I want to know."  
"Let's go to my room, is that okay for you?" Waverly took the candle.  
"Only if it is for you." Nicole answered.  
"This way."

After Waverly had told Nicole the story of the old lady...  
"Can you recognize her?"  
Waverly nodded, "surely..."  
“Is... disturbing. This whole thing..."  
"It is."  
"I don't blame you for pointing a gun at me."  
"Don't you?"  
"No." Nicole smiled.  
"Thank you..."  
Nicole leaned her back against the bed; she and Waverly were sitting on the floor of Waverly's room.  
" Before you said that I don't know you... That's true. Can I ask you a few questions?" Waverly asked, after a few seconds of silence.  
Nicole smiled, "as I've already said: I'll always answer any questions you may have."  
"Even if what I'm going to ask you is personal and not my business?"  
"Sure." Nicole nodded, "I have nothing to hide."  
"Thank you, Nicole." Waverly smiled at the woman. "What made you want to be a cop?"  
Nicole didn't need a lot of time to answer, "the desire to be in control and to be able to be important to someone."  
"Important for someone...?"   
Nicole nodded, "I'm a lonely person."  
"I'm sorry..." Waverly lowered her head, "maybe my questions upset you..."  
"Your questions can't open any wounds from my past: they're too old scars to bleed again."  
"Okay... but if you don't want to answer, it's okay... okay?"  
Nicole nodded, and she began to stare at her thin, slender hands.  
"How old are you, Nicole? I can't understand it: your face is both childish and mature, almost austere... it depends on the facial expressions you make..."  
"I'm thirty-three years old. Can I also know your age?" Nicole continued to look at her hands.  
"I am twenty-nine years old... or rather, in December I will turn 29. When were you born?"  
"On February 2nd, I'm an Aquarius."  
Waverly ignored the thrill that ran along her spine: February 2... a date associated with evil... that's what Aunt Maria told her... but maybe they were just myths.  
"Everything okay?" Nicole had left her hands to look at Waverly's face.  
"Your zodiac sign is the craziest in the zodiac..." Waverly smiled, trying to mask her thoughts.  
"So they say." Nicole nodded, returning to concentrate on her hands.  
"Your family... I don't know, don't you have good relations with them?"  
"My natural family couldn't keep me... I was adopted, but now they're gone."  
"Have they changed state, continent?"  
Nicole shook her head, "no, they're not on this Earth anymore: they're dead. Want to know how?"  
Waverly remained silent for a few seconds, "I'm so sorry...! Only if you want to tell me... you don't have to..."  
"I was fifteen years old... one night my adoptive family: my father, my mother and my little sister Anne, were murdered in their beds, torn to pieces with an axe."  
"God... I'm so sorry, Nicole! Did they find the person responsible?"  
"No, they never understood who slaughtered them." Nicole's tone was colorless, almost flat: it was as if the woman felt no emotion. "They thought it was me: I'm the only one who survived. But in the end they left me alone."  
"It's horrible...!"  
"It's been more than fifteen years..." Nicole turned around and smiled at Waverly, "it's the past."  
"What did you do next? I mean, you were only fifteen..."  
"My natural father contacted me, gave me money, but I couldn't be with him... when I got old enough I joined the police academy."  
"What about your biological mother?  
"She died giving me birth, she just had time to choose my name and give me her last name."  
"You've had a very difficult life... I'm so sorry, Nicole..."  
"It's okay."  
"Thank you for telling me your story..."  
Nicole nodded, "Now we'd better sleep, tomorrow we have to organize the city."  
Waverly was so shocked by Nicole's story that she forgot to talk about the mines.  
Nicole waited for Waverly to sleep deeply, before disappearing into a black cloud.

Nicole reappeared in an isolated place in Purgatory, a place where no one could hear her screams of anger.  
That was the first moment on that day when she was really alone and free to let off steam.  
"Fuck! Wasn't it enough to give me a deadly body?! Wasn't that enough as punishment?! Imprisoning me under this damn dome is too much! Really too much! Forced to die of hunger and thirst with this waste of the human race!" She yelled. "Give me powers back, what should they be for? Uh? What the fuck should it be for?! If I can't get out of here!? I know this damn dome is for me! I know! You put it there! Damn it!!!"  
She kept screaming until she hurt her throat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing against those born under the sign of Aquarius ( I am Aquarius: February 11, wait... 1+1... Lol ) nor against those born on the 2nd of the month. It's something that my ex-girlfriend's mother often said, she likes the occult.  
> And we Italians, know it, we're very superstitious ;)


	10. Volunteers

**10**

Waverly woke up when the sun had not yet fully risen: the night before she had gone to bed very early, just after sunset.  
The first thing she noticed was Nicole's absence in the room.   
She thought that the red-haired woman had preferred to sleep on the sofa in the room, but she was not there.

"Good morning, have you seen Nicole?" Waverly asked when she entered the kitchen.  
The weak daylight was not enough to light the kitchen, although the window was facing east, so Wynonna and Henry had lit a candle.  
"I thought she had slept with you." Wynonna winked at Waverly. But the girl ignored her, "I fell asleep instantly. Maybe she went to see if Lucy's okay."  
"Who's Lucy?" Doc asked, sipping his coffee.  
"Nicole's goat." Wynonna and Waverly said it at the same time.  
"Okay..." Henry nodded.  
Waverly was about to light the fire under the kettle, to prepare some tea, when someone knocked on the door. "I'll go..."  
"Who could be at this hour?" Doc wondered.  
"We'll soon find out..." Wynonna answered.  
"I just hope there's no other problem..."  
Waverly turned the key to open the front door.  
"Nicole... but...?"  
"Good morning, Waverly..." Nicole's face seemed distraught and tired: dark circles stood out the light color of her eyes and her pale skin made her hair look even redder.  
"What happened to you? And how did you get out...? the door was closed from the inside..."  
"It's been a long night, I really need a cup of coffee, if you'll be so kind to offer it to me..." Nicole's voice was low and hoarse.  
"And maybe you'll also need something for your sore throat... Come in." Waverly stepped aside to let the woman in.  
"Thank you..." Nicole walked in, but waited for Waverly to close the door before heading to the kitchen.  
"Good morning, everyone." Nicole sat down next to Wynonna.  
"Nicole... man, you look terrible..." the black-haired woman put her hand on Nicole's forehead, "and also the fever I would say..."  
"I'm fine, Wynonna. Don't worry." The woman replied, then she added, "Thank you, Waverly." When the girl handed her a cup of steaming coffee.  
"Did you spend the night out, Nicole?" Henry asked.  
Nicole took a sip of coffee before answering, "yes. I couldn't sleep, I went around the entire dome, but I didn't find any way out." Nicole lied, actually she had spent all night screaming and crying.  
"When you've finished your coffee, come with me, I want to change your bandages." Waverly sat in front of Nicole, between Wynonna and Henry.  
The red-haired woman nodded.  
"Then come back down, Waverly and I thought of something yesterday, and I would like us all to be there before we talk about it." Wynonna finished her cup of coffee and poured more, this time with a drop of rum.  
"Good news, I hope." Doc said, taking some rum for himself too.  
"I hope so." Wynonna nodded.  
"Okay." Nicole finished her coffee, "Waverly, if you want to take care of me, I'm ready."  
Nicole's choice of words always had something strange, not wrong, just strange.  
"Follow me." Waverly left her cup of tea in half and she got up.

"Now will you tell me how you got out?" Waverly asked while Nicole unbuttoned her uniform shirt.  
"Using my powers."  
"Very funny, why don't you use them to get us out of the dome? I'm serious, how did you do it?" Waverly laid clean gauze and disinfectant next to Nicole.  
"From the basement, there's a broken window, I couldn't close it behind me... aren't you afraid of thieves?"  
"Who would steal from the sheriff's house?" Waverly smiled, glad there was an explanation. "Why did you go out the window?" She then asked, beginning to remove the old bandages, stained with blood, from Nicole's wound.  
"Wynonna and Henry were naked. I didn't feel comfortable walking near them." Nicole replied.  
"Nicole... your wound infected... shit, I thought I disinfected it well..."  
Nicole looked at her arm, -stupid mortal body...- "it's not your fault, probably the dust got into the cut, or the bullet was dirty with some substance, Miller didn't look like he was taking care of his own equipment..."  
"I'll give you some antibiotics, but you have to rest. If the infection gets into your bloodstream, you could die." Waverly started cleaning Nicole's wound, trying not to hurt her, but also to remove the pus that was purging from the cut.  
"No way. The city needs everyone. Yesterday, that asshole Bob Miller made us waste a lot of time." Nicole said, continuing to look at her wound, and Waverly's hands, which were moving gently but quickly on her skin. "And time is the most precious thing we have..."  
"Nicole, an infection is a serious thing."  
"Waverly, I really appreciate your care and concern for me, but I'm an adult woman."  
"I..." Waverly dropped a few drops of disinfectant, "I'd like you to listen to me... you also have a fever..."  
"And I don't want you to say anything to anyone. When it's quieter, I'll rest. Okay?"  
"Okay..."  
"I want your word." Nicole looked for Waverly's eyes, and finally she found them.  
"You have my word, Nicole."  
"Thank you."

"Well, now that we're all here, I'd like to talk to you about something." Wynonna said, when Waverly and Nicole were in the kitchen with them.  
"We're listening to you, Wynonna." Doc smiled at the black-haired woman.  
"Thank you, love. So, we know that there's no way to get past the dome from the surface, so I thought we could try it from under the ground."  
"I'm not following you, Wynonna." Nicole said, looking at her.  
"The mines are still inside Purgatory, they go down very deep. We're under a dome, aren't we? Not in a glass ball."  
"Wynonna, if you're right... if you're right, we're safe!" Doc exclaimed, "how did we not think about it immediately?"  
Everyone was smiling, everyone except Nicole.  
"Is everything okay, Nicole? You are really pale..." Wynonna looked attentively at Nicole's sweaty, pale face.  
"I was just thinking that this is really good news, almost too good to believe..."  
"Don't be a pessimist, Nicole, we're getting out of here today!" Doc stood up to kiss his wife's forehead.  
"I propose to ration food, water and fuel anyway, if Plan B fails we should return to Plan A: survive as long as possible under this damn dome and hope it disappears, as it appeared. I don't want to break anybody's eggs in the basket, I just want to be realistic, ready for anything." Nicole looked them all in the face.  
"You're a wise woman, Nicole Haught. But let's think positive, okay?" Doc said, come back and sit down.  
"We'll think positive, but Nicole's right: Plan A needs to be implemented." Waverly said.  
"I agree too." Wynonna nodded.  
"Well, three women against a man... I have no hope. I'll do as you say, Nicole, but soon afterwards, we'll be looking for volunteers to go down to the old mines." Doc raised his hands.  
"I'll be among those volunteers." Nicole's tone was still, even though her voice was a little shaky.  
"No way, I'll lead the group through the mines, I'm the highest authority left in town." Doc shook his head.  
"Nicole..." Waverly was about to say something, but she held back, remembering the promise she had made to her.  
"That's the point: if something happened to you, the city would be lost. The dome could have damaged the mines, it's too dangerous."  
"I'm a man, it's my duty to protect you."  
"Here, the gender doesn't make any difference, it's not a question of physical strength, it's a question of roles." Nicole's tone didn't allow for replicas, "you'll stay on the surface. You have a family here, if I were to die there, no one would mourn my death."  
"Jesus, Nicole...! That's really sad... we care about you, even if we barely know you." Wynonna laid a hand on Nicole's and smiled at her.  
"Thank you, Wynonna. But there's no shame in cared more for your husband than a stranger. I'm nothing to you, but I can become something if you give me the chance to help."  
"All right, Nicole... but that doesn't mean that my life is more important than yours." Doc looked at Nicole with sincere admiration.

Sheriff Doc was in the main square of Purgatory, with a megaphone in his hand, and Nicole at his side. Surrounded by almost all of Purgatory.  
"Now that we've talked about how to organize the city. I have two good news for you, one will be for sure: I want to introduce you to the new Deputy Sheriff of Purgatory, Nicole Haught! Welcome her!"   
The crowd applauded loudly, and someone yelled:  
"It's the woman who saved the sheriff!"  
"Nicole, Nicole, Nicole!"  
"Nicole saved the sheriff and the customers at the bar!"  
"You have our respect, Nicole Haught!"  
"It's the woman who marked the streets!"  
"She survived the fall of the dome! She is blessed by God!"  
Nicole looked at the crowd cheering at her and smiled, even though she could not see their faces: her sight was blurred, probably the fever was rising.  
"They love you, Nicole." Doc smiled at her, "I wish you'd be the one to talk to these people about the mines."  
"Thank you, Sheriff, but I don't think I want to do that. You're the sheriff, this is your city." Nicole smiled at him.  
"Are you sure? It's not a problem for me, this is not a popularity contest." He smiled at her again.  
Nicole nodded, "Purgatory needs the voice of its sheriff."  
"All right, I won't force you to do anything." Then he approached the megaphone back to his mouth and waited a few seconds to end the applause. "The other good news is that maybe there's a way out of this dome, my wife, the beautiful Wynonna Earp had the idea to control the mines, maybe the dome is not so deep."  
Another applause and cries of joy.  
"Nicole Haught offered herself as a first volunteer to explore the mines in search of a way out, her is a gesture of great courage and generosity!"  
More applause.  
"I need two more volunteers, but I want you to think about it before raising your hand, I will not hide the fact that the mines are dangerous." Doc said.  
Many hands were raised, practically all those of the adult population of Purgatory, all were inspired by Nicole's gesture.  
"Nicole is one of us!"  
"She's the best thing that ever happened to Purgatory!"  
"I'm with you, Nicole!"  
"I'll go too!"  
"Nicole, Nicole, Nicole!!!"  
The woman smiled: everything was going according to her plans. Everything was almost too perfect, it had taken very little to bring the citizens of Purgatory to her side.  
If everything had gone according to Nicole Haught's wishes, soon the city of Purgatory would have had a new sheriff and leader. There was only one thing to do: not to die in the mines...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you think this story will have a happy ending? Would you like it or do you prefer tragic things? I'm a curious person.  
> Let me know what you think, your thoughts are important.


	11. Looking for a Way Out

**11**

"Do you all have torches?" Nicole Haught asked, looking at the man and woman in front of her: the two volunteers chosen.  
"Yes, Officer Haught." The man answered, and the woman nodded, "even a reserve one."  
"Be careful." Doc was in front of a small crowd that had come so far to wish them good luck.  
"The mines are very deep, from what I understand, so it could take hours... if the mission is successful, then I'll see you at the point where my poor car rests, but we'll be on the other side. Then we'll look for help from the outside and make sure that all of Purgatory can safely pass through the mines." Nicole paused and raised her voice, "if tomorrow's sunset comes and you won't see us on the other side or we won't be out of here... well, remember us as heroes and pray for our souls." Then she turned to the two volunteers, "What are your names?"  
"I'm Michael Verdi," the young man replied.  
"Virginia Clark."  
"You will always remember Virginia and Michael as the heroes who tried to save Purgatory or who died with honor, trying!" Nicole yelled, so that everyone could hear her words.   
Nicole felt she was very weak, but she couldn't give up now, not now that she was so close...  
The crowd applauded loudly.

People approached the volunteers to greet them and wish them safe return to one side of the dome or the other.  
Waverly approached Nicole.  
"We'll make it. One way or another..." Nicole said, while she and Waverly moved a little away from the rest of the people.  
"Nicole, in your condition..." Waverly shook her head.  
"Are you worried about me...?" Nicole seemed surprised.  
"Of course I am! You have a high fever, maybe you'll have to walk for miles..." the girl replied.  
"Thank you..."  
Waverly looked at Nicole with a lost expression, "for what?"  
Nicole smiled, "because you care about me... it's a nice feeling..."  
Waverly looked Nicole in the eye for a few seconds, "You've been alone for so long, Nicole L. Haught, but here you have people who respect you and who will learn to love you... so try not to die..."  
"I'll try, I promise." Nicole stroked Waverly's cheek.  
"One last thing, Nicole..."  
"Yes?"  
"I think I want to give you that kiss... you won the bet after all..." Waverly kept looking Nicole right in the eyes. "Could you just lower yourself a bit?"  
Nicole smiled, "no."  
"No...?" Waverly was surprised.  
"I'm entitled to that kiss, I can't die without first getting it... you'll give it to me when we meet again."  
"When we meet again... Nicole..." Waverly looked at the red-haired woman once again, then moved away, letting Wynonna also talk to Nicole.  
"Will you take care of Lucy for me, Wynonna?"  
The black-haired woman smiled at the red-haired woman, "it will be for a short time, I think she and I will get along.  
"I'm sure of it." Nicole smiled too.  
"Can I hug you, Nicole?" Wynonna asked, as she approached her.  
Nicole hesitated for a few seconds: she wasn't used to demonstrations of affection. "Of course..."  
"Watch your head, down there..." Wynonna hugged the tallest woman for a few seconds.  
Nicole laughed, "I will."  
"Nicole, a word?" Doc asked, approaching them.  
"I'll let you talk... be careful, Nicole." Wynonna moved away.  
"Sheriff." Nicole lowered her head as a sign of respect.  
"If it gets bad..." Doc said.  
"If it's too dangerous, I'll go on alone. I promise I will not put their lives at risk."   
"And neither yours, Nicole! You have to learn to be more selfish." Henry looked her in the face, "I'm serious, Nicole, I don't want to lose someone like you in vain. Promise me you won't take any unnecessary risks."  
"I promise."  
Doc nodded, "The city, in or out of this dome, needs a person like you. Come back to us." Henry patted her on the shoulder and walked away.

The voices of those who cheered for the volunteers, became weaker and weaker, while the three went down into the mines, after a few minutes, around them there was only silence and darkness.  
Nicole doubted that it would be so easy to get out of the dome, but a part of her began to believe it, perhaps because of all the optimism and joy that she had left behind ...  
"It is not easy to orient ourselves with this darkness, but all we have to do is always choose the road on the left, in this way we will pass under the main road that leads to Purgatory and we will leave about six miles from Purgatory, in another mine that connects to this one." Virginia said.  
"That's right, then one of us will run to the dome and the other two will get help." Michael added.  
... and the optimism and hope that her fellow adventurers had brought with them to the mine.

"All right, Officer Haught?" Virginia asked, after about a couple of hours of walking, "you haven't said a word and your breath seems to be wheezing."  
Nicole swallowed, she was getting weaker and stunned, "I'm fine, Virginia, but please call me Nicole... it's not the case to be formal down here."  
"All right, Nicole. I still haven't thanked you for everything you've done and are doing for the city." The light brown haired girl smiled at her.  
"I'm just doing my duty, it's really nothing extraordinary."  
"Nicole, is it true that your car was cut in two by the dome? How the hell did you save your ass?" Michael asked.  
"I was really lucky or unlucky, depending on the point of view..." Nicole answered, looking for support in the walls so as not to fall to the ground. The other two were in front of her and couldn't see her, that pleased Nicole: there was a risk that they would cancel the mission. Losing time was the last thing Nicole wanted: time was essential to her plan.  
"It could only go in three ways," Michael said, "one, get your ass to safety, what you did, two, crash into the barrier and three, but no less cool, be crushed by it!"  
"Cool...?" Virginia shook her head. "Nicole, do you have any idea what the dome could be and who's responsible?"  
Nicole smiled, an ugly and sick smile, "the demons of hell."   
"Yeah... cool!" Michael laughed.  
"Are you talking about the government's?" Virginia asked, continuing to light the path with the torch.  
"Yes, I'm talking about them." Nicole answered.  
"Oh..." the young man seemed unhappy.  
"Okay, here we are at the third crossroads, which means that we are almost at the moment of truth. We went down a lot, so the road we traveled was downward and not in a straight line, according to my calculations, in about thirty meters there should be the dome or our way out." Virginia said, "Nicole, would you have the honor of discovering our destiny?"  
Nicole took her hand off the wall and straightened her back, just a second before Virginia and Michael turned towards her.  
"Together... whatever awaits us beyond this crossroads, we'll find out together." Nicole tried to walk straight.

  
<<<o>><<<o>>><<<o>>

"Everyone's going home or waiting from Nicole's car, what do we do?" Wynonna asked. She and Waverly were still at the entrance to the mines.  
"I think I'll wait here, if they don't find anything and go back there will be no one to welcome them here." Waverly answered, sitting on the lawn in front of the mine.  
"You're right, you want some company?"  
"I'd like that, yes." Waverly nodded.  
"Have you seen Nicole's face?" Wynonna sat on the grass next to Waverly, "she looked like she was crying all night..."  
"I thought so too. Last night she told me something about her past..."  
“And...?”  
"And it wasn't nice." Waverly thought back to Nicole's face and tone the night before, she seemed not to feel emotions, but maybe she had just become good at hiding them.  
"She said that no one would mourn her death... she made me very sad. I guess she has no relationship with her relatives."  
"Her parents died, at least three of them: she was adopted. And her little sister is dead too."  
"Shit..."  
"Yeah..." Waverly nodded.  
"I hope she can find some happiness out there... is a good person, I'm sure of it."  
"I really feel guilty about the way I treated her, but there was and there is something I don't understand about her..." Waverly looked at the wide open black mouth of the mine. "As if Nicole is... I don't know... different, somehow."  
"I have the same feeling, but maybe it's just because we don't know her yet."  
"That's definitely the reason." Waverly nodded, choosing to believe it.  
"I'm going to run home and get a couple of beers for us and some water, in case they come back from here... although I hope someone will come and tell me that they're on the other side of this damn transparent wall..."  
"I hope so too..."  
"I'll be back in ten minutes!" Wynonna picked up a bicycle and began to pedal towards the Homestead.

  
<<<o>><<<o>>><<<o>>

"We're close... the answer is literally around the corner..." Virginia said.   
The three of them were walking slowly, almost frightened by anything they could find: freedom or condemnation.  
"If the barrier were not there, we could see sunlight in less than fifteen minutes..." Michael said.  
Nicole had the feeling that the walls were moving like huge jellies, but she still couldn't lose consciousness... not yet!  
"It looks free!" Michael exclaimed, once turned the corner.  
"We throw a rock, I don't see the reflection of the torches, but I want to be sure..." Virginia said, picking up a stone from the ground. "Ready?"  
Nicole and Michael nodded, holding their breath.  
Virginia threw the stone.  
The stone bounced off something invisible...  
The two guys began to scream out all their anger and despair.  
Nicole couldn't feel completely disappointed, she would have bet on it: too easy. But that was the time to play the last card of that day, just one last effort...  
Her eyes shone blue and a second later, part of the mine ceiling began to collapse.  
" Watch out!" Nicole grabbed the clothes of her two companions, a second before stones and beams hit them. But one of the fragments, perhaps a beam, hit Nicole.

  
<<<o>><<<o>>><<<o>>

  
"How long has it been?" Wynonna asked, finishing the second bottle of beer.  
"Four hours and twenty minutes... or they're off the other side or they're coming back..." Waverly answered, looking at the clock she had on her wrist.  
"Or they're dead..."   
"Wynonna..."  
"I'm sorry... I'm nervous... I can't wait."  
Waverly was about to reply, but she got stuck, "did you hear?"  
"What?"  
"They sound like voices... listen..."  
The two sisters held their breath to listen better, but they didn't hear anything.  
"Maybe I just imagined it..." Waverly shook her head.  
"No, you didn't imagine... shit! Look!" Wynonna pointed to the mines.  
Virginia and Michael were going out, he had Nicole's body in his arms, the face of the red-haired woman was a blood mask, she looked entirely covered in her blood, actually. 


	12. Hell...?

**12**

"What happened?!" Wynonna and Waverly immediately joined the two guys and Nicole's body.  
"Is she dead...?" Waverly looked at Nicole, she looked like a cadaver.  
"I don't think she's dead, I feel her breathing in my arms... she saved us from a collapse, but something hit her..." Michael laid Nicole down, he needed to rest.  
"Tell me you came back because of the collapse..." Wynonna knelt next to Nicole's body to figure out where the blood had come from, but with all that blood it was hard to say.  
Virginia shook her head, "the collapse happened after we found the barrier... we are completely trapped. But now I think the most important thing is to take care of Nicole..." she looked at the body lying on the lawn.  
"I'm gonna go call a doctor. The Homestead is the nearest, bring her there!" Waverly couldn't look at Nicole reduced to those pitiful conditions.

  
<<<o>>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

  
Nicole thought she was dead, and that she was in hell... the real hell, along with the other damned souls, a one soul in the billions of billions... there could be no other explanation: everything was dark, pain, suffering and loneliness... she was dead... she had failed, this made her angry: she was so close to the completion of her plan, only a few more moves... so few... goddamnit!  
Was she at least able to save those two guys...? Yes, Nicole was quite sure, she could now remember the beam that hit her head. At least someone would have remembered her with a little respect... NO! It wasn't enough! She wasn't supposed to die, not yet...damn it! She had done everything to gain control of the city in a clean and heroic way... and now it was all useless... all damn useless... but maybe... all things considered, she had been lucky, maybe dying of hunger and thirst would have been worse... but why then could she not feel better? Because she had failed... she had exaggerated, she had gone too far, she had not been good enough, intelligent enough... she had been stupid... she had overestimated her mortal body... Pride is a sin...  
What were the other sins staining her soul...? Envy and Wrath... three capital sins that, even excluding all the other evil actions of her existence, would still be enough to condemn her to hell...  
A dark hell, she was afraid of the dark...  
A hell she couldn't even see or touch... she seemed to float without a body, alone with her mind, with her demons and sins... it would have been so for all eternity... fuck! Fuck it! Damn it!!!

"I think she's about to wake up..."  
Who is this? Whose voice is that? Who is waking up? Maybe the hellish demons who are taking care of another soul next to her, something she can't see or touch, but just hear... hearing will be the only thing outside her mind she can do for all eternity, it's not enough...!  
"Nicole...?"  
Who is this? Who are you...? I know your voice, but I can't remember your visage... talk to me again... please....   
Mom...? But you can't be here, because I... I... I....  
"Can you hear me, Nicole?"   
Yes, I can hear you... please don't leave me in the darkness of my mind... open my eyes... let me see something again, anything... I'm afraid of the dark, you know...   
Mom, it's you, isn't it? Why are you here?  
Mom!?  
"Nicole, you're strong, open your eyes..."  
I'm trying... I swear, I'm trying...! Mom...?!  
Where are you?  
No, don't leave me alone...! Please, help me Mama!

" Mom!" Nicole opened her eyes.  
"Easy... easy, Nicole... it's okay... you're safe now." Wynonna had her hands resting on her chest and Nicole's shoulders, trying to keep her still. "I'm Wynonna... do you recognize me?"  
Nicole let Wynonna's hands push her back against the pillow. "I'm not in hell..."  
"It depends on the point of view..." Wynonna smiled at her.  
"You've made us so worried, Nicole..."  
The woman turned her head to her left and saw Waverly sitting on the bed next to her. "Waverly..." At that moment, Nicole noticed that something was wrong: she couldn't see from her left eye.  
"What's wrong with my eye?!" Nicole tried to touch it, but some bandages surrounded her head.  
" Easy, don't touch it... a beam fell on your head..." Wynonna took Nicole's wrists, preventing her from taking off the bandage.  
"Tell me that it is still there..." Nicole implored.  
"You still have the eye, calm, Nicole... but we don't know if you'll be able to see again..." Wynonna made sure that Nicole stayed still, then she added: "I'm so sorry Nicole, everything will be fine."  
"How did I get out of the mine...?"  
"It was Michael and Virginia... they said you saved their lives, taking the beam to your head... you were really brave, Nicole." Waverly smiled at her.  
"How long have I been in this bed...?" Nicole had just realized she was in Waverly's bed.  
"Nine days... you had a high fever until yesterday... we thought you were going to die..."  
"Nine days?!" Nicole screamed, "fuck! Is the city respecting the rules on rations?"  
"Don't worry about the city, you need to rest..." Wynonna said.  
"Answer me!" Nicole yelled.  
"Nicole, calm down... it's okay..." Waverly intervened.  
"Is the city respecting the rules...?" Nicole tried to use a quieter tone, but the anger was evident in her tone.  
"Yes, everyone is following the rules..." Wynonna replied. "But please be calm..."  
" Forgive me...I'm so sorry..."  
"It's okay, Nicole, we know you're upset." Waverly took her hand and shook it in hers.  
"Do you want anything? I don't know, are you hungry?" Wynonna asked.  
"I'm thirsty... very thirsty, as if I'd breathed the flames of hell..."  
"I'll bring you some water right away." Wynonna left the room.  
"I'm sorry I raised my voice... I was scared... I thought I had ended up in hell..."  
"I know, you were talking in your sleep..." Waverly answered.  
"And what did I say...?"  
"Strange things, you' re delirious, don't worry."  
"Please... tell me what I was saying." Nicole looked Waverly in the face.  
"All right, it seems important to you... you were calling your mom, saying she couldn't be in hell because you had done something; you were saying that the demons of hell condemned you to die of hunger and thirst under this dome; you were saying many other things, but understanding them was impossible...".  
"I had bad dreams..." Nicole said.  
"You had a very high fever..."  
"Thank you..." Nicole whispered.  
Wynonna came back to the room a few minutes later.  
"Everyone has the right to no more than three glasses of water a day... I'm sorry."   
"Thank you. Rationing like this, how long will the water last?" Nicole took the glass that Wynonna offered her.  
"There are about 500 of us below... the water will run out in less than 3 months..." Wynonna replied.  
Nicole finished the glass in less than a couple of seconds. "I think I'm going to use my second glass too... I'm too thirsty."  
"I'm going to get it right away..." Wynonna recovered the empty glass and went out again.  
"Do you think the dome will vanish in the three months we have left?" Waverly asked.  
"No... Waverly, I think this dome will stay here..." -...until my death...- Nicole concluded the thought in her head. She knew she had to hurry, the more time passed and the less water there was, and the less time she had to find a solution. She was an intelligent woman, very intelligent, she just had to use her clever mind well.  
Reducing the population to 250 inhabitants: 6 months... 125: 9 months...still too few time...she wanted at least a year, if by that year she had not found the solution, then she would have killed herself, always better than dying of thirst...  
62.5 people would have allowed her to reach the year of time that Nicole needed. Those sixty people would stay by Nicole's side.   
This was Nicole's final plan...

"Nicole...?" Wynonna was standing in front of her with a glass of water in her hand. "Are you okay...?"  
"Sorry... I got lost in my thoughts..." Nicole took her second glass of water.  
"We'll let you rest... Waverly...?" Wynonna said.  
Waverly looked at Nicole again for a few seconds, then she got up, "try to rest, Nicole."

Waverly went back to her room, where Nicole was resting, when the sun was about to set.  
Nicole put down the book she was reading, she was still too weak to walk.  
"I brought you a glass of water and a candle..." Waverly put them both on the bedside table. "What were you reading?"  
"The greatest fantasy of all time, I found it in your nightstand." Nicole raised the Bible.  
"Nicole... you shouldn't be so blasphemous..." Waverly sat on the bed next to her.   
"Otherwise, what will happen? Will I die trapped in a dome? Oops, too late. God isn't watching us, Waverly."  
"Why are you so angry with Him, if you don't think it's His fault?"  
"Because it's not right..." Nicole shook her head.  
"What's not right? This...? Every day misfortunes happen in the world, but it's the human being's fault..."  
"That's not why I'm angry with God... that time it was His fault..." Nicole lowered her head, she shivered with anger.  
"What time? What happened, Nicole?"  
"I can't tell you."   
"Why...?"  
" Because you wouldn't understand..."  
"Try explaining it to me..."  
"No." Nicole looked her in the eyes, "no, Waverly... that's the only question I won't answer."  
"All right, Nicole... but don't get mad at me..." Waverly withdrew slightly, frightened by the wrath of the red-haired woman.  
"I'm not angry with you... I'm sorry... I lied: there are scars from my past that can still bleed..."  
"It's okay, Nicole... I've been intrusive..." Waverly looked for Nicole's eyes.

"Where did you sleep these nine nights?" Nicole asked, after a few seconds.  
"On the couch over there... but it's very comfortable, I think I'll leave you the bed..." Waverly smiled at her.  
"Do you want to sleep with me tonight? The bed is big enough for two..."  
"Sure..."  
"Come here, then..." Nicole's tone was low, maybe threatening, maybe... scared?  
Waverly hesitated a few seconds before lying down next to Nicole.  
"I felt attracted to you from the first moment, Waverly Earp... it had never happened before..." Nicole looked at Waverly's face and lips in a strange way.  
"The first time you saw me, I was pointing a gun at you..." Waverly swallowed.  
"Exciting..." Nicole's tone continued to keep one threatening note and another one that wasn't well definable.  
"Do you want to kiss me, Nicole...?" Waverly felt weird: excited, scared, strong and weak, all together.  
"I want it... but I've never kissed anyone before... I want to enjoy this strange feeling of fear..." Nicole's finger touched Waverly's lips.  
"A beautiful woman like you, Nicole...?" Waverly's tone was also low.  
"I've never been in love... and I always thought that the kiss between two human beings was something... I don't know... intimate and special..."  
"It's a very romantic thing..."  
"I wanted to kiss your mouth from the very first moment... to know your taste..." Nicole continued to play with Waverly's lips, "to know the feeling that your kiss would give me..."  
"Nicole..." Waverly took Nicole's face in her hands, "can I kiss you...?" Waverly felt her head turn.  
Nicole's left hand slipped behind the girl's nape, "I'll kiss you." But Nicole remained still, with her eyes fixed on Waverly's, "I don't know what strange spell you did to me, but don't break it..." finally Nicole's and Waverly's lips touched each other.


	13. Like in a Chess Match

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys,  
> I think this was the most fun and challenging chapter I've ever written, I've had a lot of fun writing it, I hope you'll enjoy reading it.

**13**

The feeling of Waverly's lips against her, was for Nicole such a strange and strong emotion that she could have fainted. Waverly's lip taste was sweet, her skin silky... it was warm and right, wonderful.  
They kissed slowly, without haste or pretension for a few minutes, until Nicole moved away from Waverly.  
"I did something wrong...?" the girl asked, touching her lips, red and turgid.  
"Wynonna's coming..." Nicole explained.  
A second later, Waverly heard the last step of the ladder moan under someone's weight.  
"How good is your hearing..." Waverly whispered.  
Wynonna stopped at the doorstep, although Nicole and Waverly were dressed, she knew she had interrupted something. "Um... Virginia and Michael came to visit you, Nicole... can I get them up there?" Wynonna didn't look Nicole in the face.  
"With pleasure, thank you, Wynonna." Nicole smiled at her, even though the black-haired woman wasn't looking at her.  
Nicole waited for Wynonna to leave the room, then she whispered "it was beautiful... thanks for giving me such a pleasant feeling. I hope you didn't do it out of obligation..." Nicole looked intensely at Waverly's eyes.  
The girl smiled, "I did it because I wanted to, Nicole... I would have kissed you that day too, in front of poor Morgana... you're really beautiful..."  
Nicole would have liked to ask Waverly if she had kissed her just for her beauty, but steps that went up the stairs stopped her.  
Waverly got out of bed.  
" That' the most badass cop ever!" Michael entered the room smiling, "I knew you'd save your ass this time too, you're too fucking cool to die!"  
"Good afternoon, Officer Haught, I hope our visit won't bother you..." Virginia also smiled at Nicole.  
"I'll leave you." Waverly looked at the new comers and left the room.  
"I'm glad to see you guys." Nicole smiled at them, "Everything okay?"  
"Only thanks to you, you saved our asses down there!" Michael raised his thumb.  
"Yes, thank you very much, Officer Haught..."  
"Call me Nicole, Virginia, we've already talked about this..." Nicole smiled at her.  
Nicole and the guys talked for almost half an hour.  
Nicole had their respect and esteem, the first two pieces of the chessboard had been won. Nicole was an excellent chess player, the dome could only kiss her ass, as Michael would have said.  
Wait... there was a shadow on the chessboard, something that prevented Nicole from seeing and moving her pieces clearly... of course, that shadow belonged to a piece of the dome, something that should be eliminated as soon as possible: John Henry Holliday.  
Doc wasn't the King, unfortunately, but just another Queen, the white Queen... Nicole would take to the field like the Black Queen, she just had to be careful not to get caught while capturing the strongest piece of the whites...

The sun was setting on the tenth day of the dome.  
"I'm sorry I interrupted you before." Wynonna was preparing dinner under the dim light of a candle: vegetable and cereal soup, not much, but still food. It was important to first consume all the fresh foods, those with less or no preservatives.  
"It doesn't matter," Waverly said, as she added a bit of salt to the soup, "Nicole and I were just talking..."  
Wynonna smiled, but she chose not to comment.  
"I'm glad Nicole's making friends. No one deserves to be so alone."  
Wynonna nodded, "I agree. Also down here we can't allow ourselves to be divided: all for all, or it will end very badly..."  
"Nicole thinks the dome won't fade... I'm beginning to believe it too..." Waverly said.  
"Nicole's a good person, but she's not omniscient... I promised you we'd get out of here and we'd do it."  
"Now that the mining project has failed, and that we know that the government has nothing to do with this..."  
The same day Nicole, Virginia and Michael went into the mines, a large number of soldiers gathered around the dome. They had been studying the dome for five or six days, then they had vanished, abandoning them to their fate.  
"We'll find a way, Waverly."  
Before Waverly could say anything, Virginia and Michael entered the kitchen.  
"We're going." Virginia said.  
"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Waverly asked.  
"No, thanks, Waverly Earp, Mrs. Johnson is cooking for us in town." Michael answered, smiling at Waverly.  
"Be careful, the streets are very dark." Wynonna said, taking the pan out of the stove.  
"We have torches. See you soon." Virginia and Michael left the room, heading toward the front door.

"Why didn't you tell me the government was here...?" Nicole asked, when Waverly brought her a plate of soup.  
"I didn't want you to worry... you need rest and tranquility, you've been between life and death for many days. You lost the little body fat you had, and you have to think about getting your strength back up, before anything else..."  
"You worry too much for me..." Nicole accepted the plate, but before she started to eat, she asked, "Have you eaten enough?"  
"Yes, don't worry about me." She smiled at her.  
"Okay. Are you tired?" Nicole took a spoon and began to eat the soup while it was still hot.  
Waverly shook her head, "no, I was up late today, and there wasn't much work to be done... why do you ask?"  
"I wondered if you had a chessboard and if you wanted to play a match with me... I slept for nine days, my mind is clouded."  
"Maybe I'll win then. I'll go get it..."   
"Thank you, you make me happy."  
"If that's all it takes..." Waverly smiled at her, and she began to walk towards the door.  
"The little joys of life are the best..." Nicole smiled at her.  
"As I told you when we met, I'm not very good at this game..." Waverly said, when she went back to the room with the chessboard in her hand.  
"Chess is an art, like writing or dancing... you have to love it to master it..." Nicole took a Queen and looked at her with the only eye she had at the time, "but like all arts, love is not enough, you need practice and commitment... you are never enough masters of an art... I'll take the blacks, if you don't mind."  
"No, please." Waverly replied, beginning to fix the white pawns. "When did you discover the love of the game of Chess?"  
Nicole posed the Black Queen between the King and the Bishop, "it was one of the few good things about my adoptive father." A sad smile was drawn on Nicole's face, "when he was in a good mood and didn't beat me... we were playing."  
"I'm so sorry, Nicole... I didn't imagine." Waverly looked at the red-haired woman.  
"It doesn't matter, not anymore. It's rare to have a perfect family like the commercials spot, maybe impossible. I never asked you about your parents..."  
"I never knew them, they died shortly after my birth. Wynonna and I lived for a few years in Italy with my father's sister aunt Maria. Then Wynonna and I went back to Purgatory..." Waverly answered.  
"I'm so sorry, Waverly..." Nicole looked at the young woman's face, but she didn't read you any pain. What the girl said, explained to Nicole why it was that absence.  
"You can't feel pain for something you don't know you've lost, for someone you've never known."  
Nicole nodded comprehensively, "why didn't you stay in Italy? Wasn't it a good place?"  
"Italy is wonderful, especially in the countryside, but our roots are here, in Purgatory. Wynonna wanted to go back to the house where she was born and lived for three years with our parents, this house."  
"I understand, so you speak Italian? But your accent seems to be that of an English person... how is that possible?"  
"Sì, parlo l' Italiano." Waverly smiled, "Aunt Maria is originally from London, at home we spoke English and Italian, I took the accent from her. Wynonna, on the other hand, kept the one from here: she was already starting to talk when we left."  
"Thank you for satisfying my curiosity." Then she said, "White player moves first."  
Waverly moved the Knight g1 to f3, "Do you have any more questions for me?"  
Nicole studied the chessboard, in her opinion, the opening moves were the most important. "Yes, but not about your past, I'd like to ask you to tell me something about the first and perhaps only man who was killed by touching the dome." Nicole's hand took her Knight g8 and put it in f6. "I asked Virginia and Michael, but they didn't know him."  
"Why do you interest in him?" Waverly's e2 pawn was moved to e4.  
Nicole's Knight f6 captured Waverly's pawn in e4, "I touched the dome too, but I'm not dead..."  
"Right... Mario Belli, that was his name." Waverly's pawn d2 advanced in d3 to intimidate Nicole's Knight in e4. "He was a bricklayer..."  
Nicole's e4 Knight was retired in f6, "was he a good person?"  
"I can't answer, there were rumors about him..." pawn c2 in c4.  
Black pawn c7 in c5, "what kind of voices?" Nicole asked.  
Bishop c1 in g5, "someone said that he raped more than one girl in the city where he lived before."   
"I understand..." Knight 8b of Nicole in c6.  
White Queen in d1 in a4, "do you think there's a connection...?"  
Nicole smiled, seeing that the diagonal trajectory of the White Queen of Waverly was on that of her Black King, "no, and then some voices are not a verdict of guilt." Black pawn e7 in e6, "also do not think that the dome is a sentient being."  
"No, neither do I..." Knight b1 in d2, "but what if it is?"  
Nicole smiled, moving the pawn b7 to b6, "we are not in a novel by S. King, at most in that of a young writer a bit 'crazy."  
"What?" White Rook a1 in c1.  
Black pawn h7 in h6, "yes, do you ever imagine being the character of a book or a story...?"  
White Bishop g5 in f4, "no... do you do that often?" Waverly asked.  
"Yes," black pawn g7 in g5, "I like to think that sometimes..."  
"To explain some strange or bad things that happen in your life?" White Knight f3 captures black pawn in g5.  
Black pawn h6 captures White Knight in g5, "maybe, or maybe just amuses me." Nicole smiled.  
White Bishop f4 captures black pawn in g5, "you're a strange woman, Nicole..."  
Black Bishop f8 in h6, "is that a compliment or an insult?"  
Pawn f2 to f4, "not an insult for sure..."  
Black Bishop h6 captures White Bishop in g5, "then it's a compliment."  
White pawn f4 captures Black Bishop in g5, "but maybe you're right, Nicole... we're the characters of a writer with a few wheels out of place, I mean, come on, a dome?!"  
Nicole laughed, Black Knight f6 in h7.  
Knight d2 of Waverly in e4.  
Nicole's h7 Knight captures pawn in g5.  
White Knight e4 captures Black Knight in g5.  
Black Queen d8 captures White Knight in g5.  
White Rook c1 in d1, "leave my tower alone, Nicole..." Waverly smiled.  
"I thought I'd be able to take it. All right, check the King with Queen g5 in e3..."  
"You're terrible...!" Waverly moves White Bishop f1 in e2 to protect the White King.  
"You're mine now..." Black Knight c6 in d4.  
"Let me think... probably your Knight will capture my Bishop... so.... Queen a4 in d7 captures your pawn and checks your King."  
"Pointless move: my Bishop c8 captures your Queen in d7..."   
"Pawn g2 in g4..." Waverly shook her head.  
"Queen e3 in e2... Sah Mat!" Nicole smiled triumphantly.  
"What does 'Sah Mat' mean?" Waverly asked, looking at the chessboard.  
"The king is dead, it is ancient Persian... it is used for the Checkmate. Would you shake my hand, opponent?" Nicole kept smiling.  
"I had no hope...!" Waverly shake Nicole's hand.  
"I'll teach you some tricks if you want to play again."  
"With pleasure...!"  
Waverly and Nicole played two more games, all ending with Nicole's overwhelming victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The match of Chess between Waverly and Nicole is real, it was me (white-Waverly) against computer to maximum difficulty (black-Nicole)  
> If you use a chessboard, real or virtual, you will be able to physically see the game, I have written all the moves :)  
> My performance was poor for 3 reasons: 1 I was interpreting Waverly; 2 I was playing and writing the chapter at the same time; 3 Nicole is a champion of Chess.  
> It was really fun, if you love the art of Chess too, let me know, if you don't know them, what are you waiting for?! Playing a game of Chess is like reading a book: each game is unique and can take you into endless worlds.  
> Ps. The one that you call Knight we call Horse (Cavallo), the Rook we call it Tower (Torre) just in case :)


	14. Black Queen and White Queen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys,  
> I don't know if I will publish other chapters before Christmas or New Year's Eve, so I take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a New Year full of happiness and serenity! <3

**14**

Nicole had been in bed for two days, the third day she felt like she was going crazy. She was wasting the most precious thing: time.  
"Please, you're still very weak..." Waverly watched the red-haired woman dress.  
"Being in bed, surrounded by your attention is the greatest thing in the world, Waverly, but the city needs everyone." Nicole smiled at her, "and thanks for sewing up my uniform shirt." She bent down to give her a gentle kiss on the lips.  
It wasn't planned, maybe it was wrong... but Nicole was starting to have more and more complex feelings for Waverly. She would protect her from her own nature, from her own desire to survive... if necessary, even from herself.  
It was definitely wrong, maybe dangerous.   
It had never happened before, Nicole had never fallen in love, had never loved anyone but herself and her real mother, even though the time she had been able to spend with her had been so brief.  
"Are you sure you're well enough?" Waverly asked, when Nicole's lips parted from hers.  
Nicole looked into the girl's eyes for a long, endless moment, wondering if in that look she could find an answer, any answer whatsoever...  
"Nicole...?" Waverly's eyes were fixed in Nicole's too, but she wasn't looking for answers, not something like what Nicole was looking for.  
"I'm sure, thanks for taking care of me."

"Hi." Wynonna smiled at Nicole when she walked into the kitchen.  
"Nicole, don't you think it's a little early to get out of bed yet? Your wounds haven't fully healed properly, and your eye..." Doc looked at the bandage that still hid Nicole's left eye. "You should rest a few more days."  
Nicole smiled at both of them, "good morning. I'm fine, Henry. You don't have to worry about me." Nicole sat next to him.  
"All I have this morning is black beans and milk..." Wynonna laid a glass and a plate in front of Nicole, "the milk is powdered, but it's full of vitamins."  
"Have you eaten enough?" Nicole asked, before she took the fork.  
"You have to stop worrying about us. Eat your meal." Doc smiled at her, "everyone has their ration, no difference."  
"Thank you." Only then Nicole grabbed her fork and started eating. She hated beans, but this was no time to be picky...  
"I wanted to try milking Lucy for some fresh milk, but I wanted to hear your opinion first." Wynonna said, sipping rum.  
"Lucy has no milk. She hasn't had any pregnancies yet, as you may have noticed, her udders are small." Nicole answered.  
"Right... but I was hoping..." Wynonna shook her head.  
"Don't worry, Wynonna, it'll be better for all of us soon." Nicole finished her breakfast.  
"What do you mean?" The black-haired woman looked at her with curiosity.  
"What I said."  
There was a moment of silence where no one moved.  
"Um..." Doc cleared his throat, "Nicole, I thought I'd check the borders today, in case there was any news, I'd be glad if you'd join me."  
Nicole had to fight not to smile too much, not to reveal the sick grin on her face.   
Would it really have been that easy?   
Could the dome see the threat?   
No, not the dome, but the White Queen...  
The Black Queen was about to devour the White Queen.  
No... Nicole had to take the risk, she wanted to feel a thrill of fear and danger.   
Was that stupid? Probably, yes.   
But the game to be beautiful can't be easy, not that easy...  
"Sure, you think we should ask someone else to control one half while we control the other? It'll be a lot faster."   
Doc nodded, "you're probably right, and then your injuries wouldn't allow you to travel all those miles... sorry, I didn't think of that. But I was the one who said you should get some more rest."  
"Don't apologize, Sheriff, you're managing an entire town in crisis... you're tired." Nicole smiled at him.

"Okay, Max and you, Jade go in that direction, opposite ours, we'll meet, I think about half dome. That's about 15 miles each." Doc said.   
"All right, the bikes won't take more than half an hour." Jade raised her thumb and Max nodded.  
"Make sure you check every meter." Nicole said.   
Half an hour wasn't a long time... but that was the point, wasn't it? Making things fun, and without a little risk...  
"Sure, Deputy Haught, count on us!" Max smiled at her.  
"Well, let's go then." Doc said.  
Everybody got on their bikes.  
Doc and Nicole started skirting the dome to the west, Max and Jade to the east.

Nicole waited at least three miles: she wanted to make sure she was far enough away from the others and possible witnesses... about twelve miles, another twenty or twenty-five minutes. Too few minutes, so it was time to stop and act.  
"Henry." Nicole slowed down.  
The cowboy turned to the red-haired woman, "are you okay, Nicole? Are you sick?" He slowed down and stopped.  
Nicole reached him and got off the bike, "get off the bike, please."  
The man didn't move, "I don't understand..."  
Nicole drew her gun, "please get off your bike."  
"Okay! Okay... Nicole..." Doc got off and dropped the bike on the ground, "but now put the gun away, okay?" He raised his hands.  
"I don't want to hurt you, Henry." But the gun was pointed at his head, "so just do what I say."  
"Did I do something to offend you? We can talk about it, but please put the gun away..." Doc was so shocked by the woman's behavior that he didn't know exactly what to do.  
"You've been very good to me, John Henry Holliday, you've given me trust, you've offered me friendship and a place to stay, that's why I choose not to kill you." She looked him straight in the eyes, "human life has no value to me. I'm not evil, I just don't care... that's why I let the truck, a few miles from here, crash into the dome, I don't care."  
"I don't... I don't understand..."  
"I'll be honest with you, Doc, I don't know if this is gonna work, I'm not a hundred percent sure..." she paused, "I really hope you don't die."  
"What are you talking about...?"  
Nicole smiled, "it's time for the white Queen to leave the chessboard."  
"Nicole, you're upset and the drugs are probably clouding your rationality, but please put that gun down..." he stepped forward.  
"Don't move, I said I don't want to kill you, not that I will not."   
"What are you doing? I don't understand you..."   
"I try to survive... that's not something wrong, is it?"  
"No... it's not... but this isn't the right way! And why should threatening me allow your survival? I'm not a danger to you, I never meant to hurt you!"  
"No, you're a good man... but your presence gets in the way of my plans."  
"What plans...?"  
Nicole smiled again, a sad smile this time, "can I tell you something? I've had a weight on my heart for many years and I wish I could talk to someone..."  
"You don't need to point a gun at me, I'll gladly listen to what's worrying you..." Doc said.  
"I realize there's no such thing as justice," she ignored his words, "that no matter how much good you do, one mistake, one mistake is enough to ruin everything... how can love be a mistake?"  
"I don't understand you..."  
"My mother, my real mother... she... she fell in love with the wrong man..." Nicole's right eye filled with tears, "she didn't want to hurt anyone... but she was punished!" Nicole's voice was broken by deep, dark pain, "and I am the daughter of that sin..."  
"I'm listening... go on..." seemed the only way to Doc.  
"They punished her by condemning her to hell!" Nicole shouted, "true hell among the souls of the damned... among the trash of the world... she didn't deserve it..."  
Henry was starting to think Nicole was crazy, but he had to buy some time and wait for Max and Jade, "what did she do to go to hell...?"  
Nicole looked him in the eyes, "she loved a demon... the demon of light... Lucifer, Satan, Devil... whatever you want to call him... from that love I was born... half demon, half woman... it wasn't enough to kill her while she was giving birth to me, no... it wasn't enough for them!" Nicole's voice sounded more and more like that of a wounded animal, "I couldn't leave her there... my father couldn't help her and she was suffering..." Nicole took a break to wipe away the tears running down her cheek, but it was useless because others were falling constantly, "I had to do something, I had to save her, do you understand?"  
"Yes, I understand..." Doc nodded, "what have you done?"  
"I belong to this world for half and to hell for the other half, but to reach hell and save my mother... I had to pay a price: my soul. I had to break it, stain it forever with the worst of sins..."  
"The murder..." Doc whispered.  
Nicole nodded, "I exterminated my adoptive family... I didn't even spare the child, I couldn't leave her without parents in a world like this... I know the feeling of being alone... I know the feeling of suffering and having no one to protect you... the strong, gentle hand of a father, the warm, sweet embrace of a mother..."  
Doc held his breath, his face was a mask of horror and disgust, "tell me you're lying..."  
"No, but I understand why you look at me like that... like I'm a monster..." Nicole kept looking him in the eyes, "I had to do it... my mother was free to be reincarnated and now she lives as she deserves, somewhere in this world..."  
"Is hell truly real...? You killed your family... I..." he couldn't talk.  
"I was punished for it, for saving a soul from hell, not for killing... where is the justice, Henry?"  
But he remained mute, totally shocked by the words of the red-haired woman.  
"When they took away my powers, condemned me to a mortal body, they warned me that it wasn't over, I had to be punished again... and here's the dome..."  
"The dome...?"  
"A miniature version of hell, a kingdom I can rule until I go to the real hell, a kingdom where I am a prisoner... but I will not give up so easily... I need you to disappear, this dome is too small for two Queens, and two armies of pawns... with the next move, the white player will check the king and devour the white Queen."  
"Am I the White Queen...?"  
Nicole nodded.  
"You said you didn't want to kill me..."  
"It's the truth. I don't want to." Nicole answered.  
"But will you...?"  
"I hope not..."  
"What does that mean...?"  
"You love Wynonna...?"  
"What's that got to do with anything?" The cowboy raised his voice, "don't touch her!"  
"I have no intention of hurting her. Now answer my question."  
"Of course I love her!"  
"And she loves you?"  
"Nicole..." Doc took another step towards the redheaded woman.  
"Answer my question and don't move... I don't want to shoot you, but if you make me, I will."  
"Yes, I'm sure she loves me back..."  
Nicole nodded, "touch the dome, Henry."  
"What?"  
"You heard me."  
The man retreating, "I don't want to die... not in that way..."  
Nicole looked over Doc's shoulder, "shit."  
Max and Jade were coming.  
"What's going on here?!" The two of them got off their bikes.  
"I didn't make it in time..." Nicole smiled, shaking her head. "Don't move."  
"Why are you doing this, Officer Nicole?" Jade raised her hands.  
Max instead tried to walk away.  
"Don't hurt them..." Doc said.  
"Stop or I'll shoot." Nicole pointed the gun at the boy.  
Doc took advantage of Nicole's distraction to draw his two revolvers, "Drop the gun! Now!"  
"You can't kill me, Doc..." Nicole was lying, but he couldn't have known that.  
"Drop your weapon on the ground!" Henry ordered.  
Nicole had to play strategy.   
She vanished into a black cloud, the next second, a gunshot made Jade and Doc turn around.  
Max was on the ground, there was a hole in his forehead, and a few steps away from him, Nicole was still holding the smoking gun in her hand, "as you can see I wasn't lying: I'm not completely human. In addition, human life doesn't really mean anything to me. Throw me the two revolvers or I'll kill her too."  
"Please, I don't want to die!" Jade cried.  
"Damn it! Okay..." Doc dropped the two revolvers.  
"Touch the dome, Henry." Nicole had the gun on Jade.  
"If I do, promise me you won't kill her."  
"I promise." Nicole nodded.  
"All right... shit... Tell Wynonna that I love her and that my last thought was for her..."  
"I hope you don't die, Henry... courage, show me I wasn't wrong..."  
"Shit..." Doc's hand was shaking hard as it approached the surface of the dome.  
"Please, please let us go!" Jade screamed.  
" Silence, please." Then Nicole turned to Doc, "come on, just touch it, that's all."  
"I'm in no hurry to die...!"  
"I'm gonna count to three, then I'm gonna shoot her." Nicole's tone was calm, but threatening at the same time.  
"Nicole, there has to be another way!"  
"One."  
"Please, damn it!"  
"Two."  
Jade was crying, holding her head in her hands.  
"Okay! All right, I'll do it!" Doc's hand didn't touch the dome, it went through...  
Nicole smiled, "I like being right."  
"What the hell?" Doc looked at his hand, totally unharmed.  
"Your soul is pure, John Henry Holliday, you are not destined for any hell." A second later, Nicole pulled the trigger, the bullet pierced Jade's heart.  
"NO! Damn it, why did you do that? You promised me you'd spare her life, I did what you told me to do!"   
"Never trust the word of a demon." Nicole smiled.  
"Damn you, you infernal creature!"  
"Now you will come out of this dome, but I swear to you, if you come near this place, I will exterminate your family. I will make Wynonna suffer for days, weeks, before she dies."  
"Don't even go near her!" Doc yelled.  
"Once you're out, you can't come back in, I'm sure... do what I told you and I won't do anything to her."  
"I'd prefer to die trying to stop you than let you near my family again!"  
"Your life has no value, Henry, but I can't forget your kindness. There are only two ways it can end. Choose to live or die."  
"I will kill you!"   
Nicole shook her head, "no, I won't let you stain your soul." She vanished into a black cloud.  
"Where are you?!" Doc did the rounds on himself, but Nicole seemed to have disappeared.  
"Here."  
Henry felt two strong hands resting on his back and pushing him.   
He fell off the dome.  
Henry started hitting the dome with fists.  
"Well..." Nicole looked into Henry's mouth, open for a scream without a voice.  
Nicole bit her finger and let the blood come out.  
-Away or I'll kill her. -She wrote with blood, ignoring the excruciating pain that contact with the dome caused her.  
Doc punched the dome for a few more seconds, then he ran away.  
"Now I have to take care of this mess..." Nicole looked at the two dead bodies on the ground.


	15. Nicole and the Old Lady

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys,  
> This chapter is very short: it serves to tell you that I have not disappeared, that I have not abandoned the project or anything else. Simply, with the end of the holidays the bureaucracy wakes up, and the Italian one is the worst of all, trust me...! And I've been very busy...  
> In the next days I'll start writing and publishing again, I hope, more often...  
> I hope that this 2020 has started well for all of you :)  
> See you soon,
> 
> -Aurora.

**15**

Nicole lifted the girl's corpse, held her in her arms, "I'm sorry, believe me." She told her, before she threw her against the dome. As Nicole had predicted, the body was soulless, so it passed the barrier without any problem, it didn't matter if Jade's soul was good or bad, no anymore.  
"Now you..." Nicole turned to Max, grabbed him by the arm, but before she could throw him too, a voice caught her by surprise.  
"You think you can do whatever you want? This is not your kingdom... this is your prison."  
Nicole turned around, trying to hide her surprise, "you're the old lady who tried to warn the inhabitants..." was not a question.  
The dirty-looking, scruffy old woman smiled, a toothless smile, "I tried. This year you celebrated your 33rd birthday, it was time to end your punishment. We couldn't lock up all of New York, this place was perfect."  
"Why did you try to warn them? Was that the point? You knew they wouldn't listen to you."  
The old woman kept smiling, "guilt is a bad thing to live with."  
"That's your answer?"  
"Yes."  
Nicole also smiled, "I'm not gonna die under this damn thing."  
"Who can say?"  
The smile on Nicole's lips widened, "so there is a way to leave the dome."  
"Who can say?" Even the old woman's smile became wider.  
"I'm trying to figure out if your goal is to help me or to confuse me..." Nicole shook her head, "why did you stay here? Why are you talking to me?"  
"Who can say?" The old woman said again.  
"You're no fun, old woman. Stop wasting my time, answer my questions or get out of my way. I don't have time to waste on stupid games."  
"You're digging your own grave." The old woman said, without stopping smiling.  
"What does that mean?"  
"Who can say?"  
"Who are you? Can you answer that question?" Nicole asked, trying to figure out if the old woman was an enemy or a friend.  
"Me? I'm everything, I'm nothing, depends on who's asking." She answered.  
"All and nothing... they don't exist, so who are you?"  
"Who's asking me?"  
Nicole put her hands on her hips, she was sure that what was in front of her was something that had nothing to do with hell or heaven, no, she was something different, but what? "Me, I'm asking you."  
"Who are you?" The old woman asked.  
"You know my name, you know my story... I'm sure of it."  
"What about you? Are you sure you know who you are?"  
"I don't understand... stop playing games!"  
The old woman laughed loudly, it was a laugh that made no sense, name or dimension, "I thought you liked to play."  
Nicole sighed, "just tell me if you're here to help me."  
"Who can say?"  
"I'm sick of you." Nicole turned her back on the old woman and grabbed the arm of the remaining corpse, "you've wasted far too much time." She said, throwing the body over the dome.  
Nicole didn't expect to see Max's body landing at the old lady's feet, "what the hell?!"  
"Did you really think I was a prisoner of it?" Surprisingly, her voice reached Nicole with no problem, "You wasted your chance."  
"What chance?!" Nicole approached the dome, near the inscription she had left with her blood.  
"Who can say?" The old woman turned her back on Nicole.  
"No! Stop, don't go! Answer me, damn it!"  
But the other one was walking away, totally indifferent to Nicole's screams.  
"I told you to stop!!!" Nicole kept screaming, but the old woman disappeared into thin air.


	16. Pain and Strategy

**16**

What was the meaning of the old woman's words? What opportunity had she wasted? Who was that dirty old woman really? Definitely a supernatural being, but who?!  
Nicole took her head in her hands... what chance had she wasted?  
No one...!   
Nicole saw no opportunity looking back... but maybe, maybe she could have avoided turning her back on the woman... would it make a difference? Probably not. The old woman just kept saying, 'Who can say?'  
Maybe that strange figure was sent to confuse her, to drive her crazy...  
No, now she had to calm down! She couldn't let anyone get in the way of her plans. No one!

Nicole L. Haught also threw the two bikes over the barrier. Then she grabbed hers and Doc's and got away from there. The plan was to make it look like she didn't know where the two guys had gone and make it seem like the sheriff died right in front of her.  
The red-haired woman walked about three miles before she stopped.  
She used her strength to twist the front wheel of Henry's bicycle: she would say the wheel had collided with a rock and Doc had fallen against the barrier, dying. She couldn't do anything to save him.  
It was a good plan, a really good plan.   
With the White Queen out of the game, the Black Queen now had full dominion over the Purgatory chessboard.

Nicole entered in the front yard of the Homestead carrying her bicycle by hand, but before entering the house, she went to the back of the house, where there was a small vegetable garden, and took a chili pepper from the plant. She brought the fruit to her eye without a bandage and rubbed it until it began to burn and filled with tears.

"Wynonna! Waverly!" Nicole opened the front door wide, crying out.  
The first one that came in was Waverly.  
"Nicole, my God! What happened to you?!"   
Nicole let herself fall on her knees, "I couldn't do anything, I'm so sorry!" She cried. "I couldn't do anything...!"  
"Nicole, darling, calm down... tell me what happened! Are you hurt?" The girl knelt down in front of the red-haired woman, putting her hands on her shoulders.  
"I'm so sorry!" Nicole continued to recite, but it wasn't difficult: her eye was burning like it was on fire, "it all happened too fast..."  
"What's going on here?!" Wynonna came running, "Waverly, Nicole?"  
"Wynonna... Wynonna... I'm so sorry!" Nicole looked up at the black-haired woman.  
"Where's Henry...?" Wynonna's voice betrayed all her fear, "where's my husband?"  
"Nicole, talk, please!" Waverly said.  
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, I couldn't do anything to save him... by the time I turned around, it was all over... Wynonna..."  
Wynonna Earp grabbed Nicole by her uniform collar and pulled her up, "where's my husband?!" She yelled.  
"Wynonna calm down, you're gonna hurt her!" Waverly screamed, seeing how hard Wynonna had forced Nicole to get up.  
"I'm sorry. Wynonna... I'm so sorry." Nicole let Wynonna yank her by the lapel on her shirt.  
"Answer me, damn it!" Wynonna pushed Nicole up against the wall and kept holding her by her shirt, "where the hell is my husband?"  
"Wynonna!" Waverly grabbed her sister's wrists trying to get her away from Nicole, but Wynonna's grip was too strong and desperate.  
"There was nothing I could do... his bike skidded, I think because of a rock... and he... he's... he's..."  
"He what? Nicole, I swear to God I'll hit you if you don't answer me!" Wynonna screamed, crushing Nicole against the wall even more.  
"Wynonna..." Nicole was having trouble breathing: Wynonna's hands were crushing her throat. "Wynonna... he... he... he fell against... against the dome..."  
"My God..." Waverly covered her mouth with a hand, overwhelmed by anguish and pain.  
"It's not true! Tell me where my husband is!!!" Wynonna's eyes filled with tears, "tell me where he is?!"  
"Wynonna..." Nicole felt that there wasn't enough oxygen for her brain, she would soon pass out, "he... he is no longer with us... Wynonna... he's dead."  
Wynonna's hands finally moved away from Nicole's neck, she fell to the ground coughing for air.  
Wynonna fell on her knees, too.  
"I'm so sorry, Wynonna..." Nicole rubbed her throat, trying to relieve the pain and burning. "There was nothing I could do... I'm so sorry."  
But maybe Wynonna didn't even hear her. She seemed absent, almost dead.  
"Wynonna..." Waverly knelt down in front of her and held her in her arms, "Wynonna..." she wept.  
Wynonna stood motionless in Waverly's embrace, while warm tears descended from her eyes wide open and full of horror.  
"I'm so sorry..." Nicole stood up and watched the scene. She wasn't happy to have caused Wynonna that pain, but you couldn't even say she was sorry... as always, she was indifferent to human events, but seeing Waverly suffer, well, she didn't like that at all.  
"Wynonna... Say something..." Waverly took Wynonna's face in her hands, looking for her eyes, but Wynonna's eyes had turned off and looked without seeing anything. "Please, Wynonna... look at me... tell me something..."  
Nothing. Wynonna looked like a broken, soulless doll.  
"I'm gonna go find a doctor..." Nicole headed for the door.  
"It's not your fault, Nicole..." Waverly said, trying to breathe regularly.  
Nicole didn't turn around, and she crossed the threshold.

The red-haired woman stopped a few hundred yards from Purgatory; she needed something to remove the remains of the fire fruit from her eye. It wasn't easy to find something that would help her, to be precise, she didn't find anything. But the pain prevented her from seeing well, and there was a risk that capsaicin ***** would damage her optic nerves.  
"Shit... I don't have a choice..." she said, starting to unroll the blindfold from her left eye.  
With the bandage, she tried to clean her right eye as best she could, but the tissue partly removed the chili pepper residue and partly irritated the eye even more.  
"What a fucking idea I had..." her right eye could see a little better, but she still didn't dare open her left eye: she was afraid to find out that she had lost her eye or that the light could damage it.  
The woman pedaled towards Purgatory again.

"Deputy Haught." The only doctor left in Purgatory approached Nicole when she entered the city's temporary clinic.  
"Doctor, I need you to follow me to the Earps. Wynonna Earp needs your attention." Nicole said.  
"What happened? But first let me see your eyes, they're in bad condition!" The doctor took Nicole's face in his hands, "why did you remove the bandage? It's still early, the light could damage the eye!"  
"I know, but for my eyes we'll think later." Nicole let the doctor study her face, "first you must follow me to the Earps... Sheriff's dead, and I think Wynonna's in a state of shock."  
Nicole felt the doctor's hands trembled against her face, "my God! How could this happen?!" He asked.  
"I'll explain on the way, please follow me now...!" Nicole escaped the doctor's hands.  
"My dear friend... dead..." the doctor shook his head, "I'm so sorry..."  
"The whole town will miss a man like him, no doubt, but please come with me now..." Nicole said, she knew she had to keep on playing the part of the altruistic, but it was also true that she wanted to go back to Waverly and make sure that the girl was okay, however well someone might be in a situation like that.  
"All right... but first let me blindfold you again." The doctor turned around, headed for a locker.  
"I don't have time for this. Take what I need for my eyes and come with me." Nicole was losing her patience.  
"From what you've told me, there's little or nothing I can do for Miss Wynonna... there's only one cure: time. And it's not always an infallible remedy. Let me take care of your eyes before you lose them both." He answered.  
Nicole had to surrender.

"Help me get her upstairs..." the doctor told Nicole.  
The red-headed woman nodded and bent over Wynonna, "Wynonna, hey... we're taking you to your bed... sorry, but we're gonna have to lift you up."  
But Wynonna didn't answer. She was in the same state that Nicole left her.  
"She didn't say a word..." Waverly wept, looking at her sister's condition.  
"It's gonna be okay, Waverly..." Nicole tried to smile at her.  
"Come on, take her under the armpits, I'll take her legs." The doctor said.  
"Yes, Doctor..." Nicole took Wynonna and lifted her up. Actually, she could have easily taken Wynonna upstairs on her own.  
" Gently... please..." Waverly followed Nicole and the doctor up the stairs.  
"We'll take care of her, don't worry, Waverly..." Nicole said, slowly going up the stairs, step by step.  
"Let's put her here... easy... easy... easy..." Nicole placed Wynonna's head and shoulders on the bedpost.  
"Doctor..." Waverly didn't know exactly what to say.  
"Time will fix everything... God willing..." the doctor answered.  
Nicole was tempted to say something about the doctor's comment, but in the end she preferred to keep quiet, it was not the right time.  
"Come, I'll show you to the door..." Nicole said, addressing the doctor. "I'll be right back, Waverly... stay with Wynonna."  
The girl just nodded.

"Put this eye drops in your right eye twice a day, it's to calm the irritation..." the doctor gave Nicole a glass vial, "and these are the clean bandages and disinfectant for your left eye. In a couple of days, you can come to me and remove the bandage for good."  
"Thank you, Doctor... do you think my left eye... do you think I can use it again...?" Nicole asked, taking the necessary for the care of her eyes.  
"Time is the answer, my dear... I'm going back to town now, I'm going to warn the inhabitants of the grave mourning that has struck us. You stay here and take care of those two poor creatures."  
Nicole nodded, "I will."  
The red-haired woman greeted the doctor and went back upstairs.  
She found Waverly crying lying next to Wynonna's still body.  
What was that strange feeling in her stomach...? Did it feel like something... something strange... guilt maybe?   
Yeah, it was guilt.  
"Waves...?" Nicole approached Wynonna's bed.  
"I just don't... I can't see her like this... it breaks my heart..." Waverly said, without raising her head. "Henry's dead... and I... I can't lose her, too... It would kill me..."   
"It would kill you..." Nicole felt the feeling in her stomach slowly turn to pain, "Waverly..." but there was nothing Nicole could say or do. She had chosen to survive, all the pain she would leave behind could be nothing more than minor side effects, minor details... but seeing Waverly like that she didn't like it, and there was nothing to do...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Capsaicin (also called capsaicin or capseicin) is a chemical compound present, in different concentrations, in plants such as chilli; is one of the alkaloids responsible for most of the "hotness" of chili peppers.


	17. The hand of God or the hand of Satan?

**17**

"How's Wynonna...?" Nicole asked, sitting at the kitchen table.  
Waverly shook her head, "it's been six days already..." she paused to fend off the tears, "her hair is turning white..."  
" She hasn't said anything yet? Can you get her to eat something?"  
The girl nodded, " She eats like a bird... and doesn't say a word..."  
"I'm so sorry, Waverly... I really am..." Nicole was sincere, sure, she didn't feel sorry for Wynonna, but for Waverly.  
Before Waverly could say anything, someone knocked on the door.  
"I'll get it. Don't worry." Nicole got up.

"Michael... what's going on?" Nicole asked, seeing the boy's worried face.  
"Sheriff... the food warehouse..." he almost couldn't speak, "the warehouse burned down... we lost almost half of our goods..."  
"Shit..." but deep down inside, Nicole smiled: she'd ordered a bunch of guys, through mind control, to start the fire. "Who was on guard? And who was responsible?"  
"Walter and Anna... they were on guard..." Michael replied. "We've arrested them and we've also caught those responsible... they say they don't remember why they did it..."  
"Very well, go ahead, gather the citizens in the main square. It's time to take action: this is not a game, those responsible will have to pay."  
"Yes, Sheriff." The boy ran into the yard and retrieved his bike, headed for Purgatory.  
Nicole didn't expect so much food to be lost... she calculated that the damage would be reduced... she shouldn't let others do her job, but she couldn't risk being seen... that was a big problem, and the only solution was to drastically reduce the population, as quickly as possible.

"I have to go into town... the warehouse has been burned down." Nicole said, back in the kitchen.  
Waverly did not raise her head, she seemed lost in distant, dark thoughts.  
"Baby...?" Nicole put her hand on Waverly's shoulder.  
The girl shuddered, "I'm sorry. I didn't notice you. What's going on? You look worried..."  
"I am... the warehouse with our supplies was set on fire... we lost a lot of food... I have to go."   
"No... Nicole... how are we gonna do this?!" In Waverly's voice there was fear, a strong, sharp fear: the fear of someone who knows she's walking on the razor blade, "if food becomes a problem, someone... someone might decide that people in Wynonna's state are useless... God...!"  
Yes, that was exactly the point. Nicole wanted a good excuse to introduce the death penalty... to get rid of what's unnecessary...  
"I'm not gonna let anyone hurt Wynonna. I promise you that, Waverly." Nicole looked her straight in the eyes, "you may hate me for the choices I make... but I'll make sure you and Wynonna don't suffer any more pain."  
"Nicole..."  
"I've made my decision." Nicole said, without stopping to look her in the eyes, "no matter how many will die... if that's the price for protecting you."  
"No... Nicole... not like that... I can't accept privileges..." Waverly shook her head, "I can't live with that."  
"You don't have to do anything, you can't do anything... The choice is mine, it's my soul that will be stained, not yours." She took her face in her hands, "I won't let you die."  
"Even doing nothing when you could... even that could stain my soul... Nicole, I don't want people to suffer or die because of me...!"  
"You are not responsible for what happens to us, understand? No one will die in your place... or Wynonna's... but let me protect you."  
"But you said that..."  
"Waverly, please... trust me, can you...?"   
"Why are you doing all this for me and Wynonna...? You've known us less than a month..." The girl asked, clutching Nicole's wrists.  
"You make me feel good... I feel it's right to protect you... and I feel responsible for Doc's death... I owe Wynonna."  
"Are you going to kill people...?" Waverly's voice was shaking.  
Nicole nodded, "yes, Waverly... I'm gonna kill people..."  
"There must be another way... we must find another way...!"  
"There is no other way... we must survive." Nicole answered.  
"At what price...? For what purpose?"   
Nicole looked at Waverly without fully understanding the meaning of those words, "you want to live, don't you?" She asked.  
"Of course I want to live... but... I don't know if..."  
"Listen to me. I know it's not easy to accept, but sometimes we have to make choices, hard choices and not good ones at all, okay? But that's the price of surviving... don't think I'm happy to take someone's life... but if it can save your life or the lives of many innocent children, then I will. It will only be until I figure out how to make this dome disappear..."  
"Nicole..."  
"If I don't do anything... If I do nothing, we're all going to die for sure. Can you understand that? The guilty must be punished, the useless must be eliminated."   
Waverly freed herself from Nicole's grip, "the useless must be eliminated? We're not talking about garbage, we're talking about people... Nicole, you can't really talk like that!"  
"It's easier to create emotional detachment... don't think it's easy for me, but I'm the sheriff now, I'm responsible for all of you." Nicole bent over Waverly, "I told you, you may hate me for the choices I make, but I won't stop protecting you." She straightened her back, "I have to go now. You take care of Wynonna, there's nothing else you can or should do."  
"Nicole..." Waverly stood up, "I know you're not bad, but don't let this turn you into a monster..."  
The red-haired woman smiled, "don't you think I'm a monster already...?"  
Waverly looked her in the eyes for a long minute, "no... you're not a monster... and as much as it pains me... I understand why you have to do what you want to do... I understand even if I can't accept it..." she shook her head, "I know you're doing it to protect the weakest... I know you do it because we are in an emergency situation ... the rules of the world we lived in before have changed ... we must adapt or die ... but it is difficult ... almost impossible to bear this sense of emptiness that spreads in my chest ..."  
"I'm sorry, Waverly, but I'm glad a part of you can understand me..." Nicole smiled at her and left the room.

Nicole was in the main square of Purgatory; with a megaphone in her hand.  
"Companions, friends and brothers... you might not like what I'm about to say." She took a break, "I don't like it either. But we can't have someone trying to kill us from the inside! We cannot allow our own citizens to kill us! The guilty must be punished. I will not allow innocent people to lose their lives because of the selfishness of others! We must defend ourselves against the cancer that is invading us! We must kill it!"  
"She's right!"  
"Nicole, guide us!"  
"Let's kill the cancer!"  
"Death to traitors!"  
"It's not easy for me," Nicole continued the speech, "and I know it's not easy for you, my beloved citizens... but I will not allow your children, brothers, husbands, to die because of demons sent from hell to destroy us! It is Satan himself who guides the hand of these people, the dome has awakened the dormant demons in their hearts! They want to destroy us! But we are stronger, we are united! For this reason, with a heart full of pain, I announce the entry into force of the death penalty! But have no fear, my brothers, no innocent will be punished, there will be food for our children, food that the hand of Satan wanted to take away from us! We are strong! We will survive this!"  
Few heads bowed down, many stood up and called out the name of Nicole.  
"I'll get you out of this dome, I promise you! But you must help me: do not be afraid to denounce those who do not follow the rules, God will forgive us all! We're not sinners. We're just trying to survive. God wants us to live."  
"Yes!!!! God wants us to live!"  
"God is with us!"  
"Save us Nicole! God speaks through your mouth and moves through your hands!"  
"Death to sinners!"  
The red-haired woman smiled triumphantly: human ignorance has no limits, and mixed with fear becomes a deadly weapon.

"I sentence you to death." Nicole said, looking at the twelve people kneeling before her, "Purgatory condemns you to death! God himself condemns you to death!"  
The crowd cheered.  
"You ten set the fire by depriving us of much food. You say you don't remember why, but I know why: Satan was leading you! Satan can do nothing against a pure heart and a righteous soul, you are rotten inside!"  
Another roar from the crowd.  
"And you two... you two are accomplices to this abomination! Satan was at your side when you let those people steal our food! The food that was supposed to feed our children!" Nicole took the knife out of her belt, "I will carry out the sentence myself, I will not allow blood to stain the hands of pure people! I will take this responsibility; if God looks on Purgatory with pain, He will see only me as worthy of blame!"  
"God moves your hand, Nicole!"  
"He will forgive you!"  
"You are God's messenger on earth!"  
"God loves you, Nicole!"  
The red-haired woman turned to the crowd, "Brothers, look how the hand of God brings justice to this city! This is not murder, remember this: this is justice, this is the will of God!" The blade of Nicole's dagger sank into Walter's right eye, one of the guys guarding the warehouse, piercing his brain; he died immediately.  
Someone walked away from the square: people who found it all wrong and senseless. But many stayed and applauded for every body that fell to the ground.  
"Bury the dead, deep down... we can't let an epidemic hit us." Nicole said, cleaning the dagger on the last of the bodies on the ground.  
A controlled epidemic would have been perfect, but this was a thought that demanded time and caution.  
"What if we burn them? Wouldn't that be safer?" Virginia asked.  
"No," Nicole shook her head, "we can't pollute the air." Nicole walked away, "you take care of it." Nicole was on her way to the clinic: not only did she want to have the bandage removed, but she also had to talk to the doctor.  
"It was my children you killed..." a woman with a face full of anger and pain stood before Nicole.  
"Those were no longer your children, but pawns moved by Satan." Nicole answered.  
"You are not the hand of God, you are the hand of Satan! Damn you!" The woman pointed the finger at Nicole, but before she could move towards the red-haired woman, Virginia and Michael took her by the arms.  
"Don't hurt her, let her... This woman is suffering." Nicole said.  
"I don't want your pity! You're a goddamn demon! You disgust me!" She yelled at the woman, trying to free herself to get to Nicole. "I would rather die than live in your shadow, you are Satan!"  
"That woman is possessed! The Devil has her!" Someone shouted.  
"Let's kill her before she infects us too!"  
"Let's kill her!"  
Nicole smiled, "the people have decided, who am I to stop you?"   
"You'll burn in hell! Fucking bitch!" The woman kept yelling as she was being dragged away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to say that this is just a work of my imagination; I respect everyone's creed and religion. I am an atheist, but I do not discriminate against those who believe in God, whatever God you believe in or do not believe in.  
> If you do not agree with the use I make with religious concepts, canonical or not, you are free to tell me, but you are also free not to continue reading, I do not oblige you. But I would like you to remember that my objective is not to offend anyone.  
> That's all, Thank you.


	18. The Devil's Move

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am!  
> Sorry for the long wait...! But even if it takes a long time between chapters, I want you to know that I will never abandon this story!  
> Thank you for staying, I hope the wait will be repaid!

**18**

Nicole was sitting in the clinic, waiting to remove the bandage.  
"Did you take care of your eye like I told you to?" The doctor asked, wearing latex gloves.  
Nicole nodded, "of course, I'm very fond of my eyesight."  
"Good, very good. Otherwise it could be very risky to remove the bandages."  
"But it's also true that the right eye is working for two, it's very tired." Nicole answered.  
The doctor did not answer, but put his hands on Nicole's face.

<<<o>>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

"It's gonna be okay, Wynonna..." Waverly stroked Wynonna's skinny, pale face, "Nicole will take care of us... one way or another."  
The woman's gaze was empty but full of pain.  
"I can't give you your love back or even put black back in your hair... but I'll always be by your side, my beloved sister..." a tear left Waverly's right eye, "I don't know how yet... but we'll make it..."  
"Henry..." the sound was so weak that Waverly thought she just imagined it. Several minutes went by, but the room remained silent: the only sounds present were their breaths and the clock hands that, slow and inexorable, tickled the time almost like a warning.  
"Henry..."  
This time, Waverly was looking at her sister's face, she saw Wynonna's lips move.  
"Wynonna..." Waverly's heart was in a tight grip of pain and anguish.  
"Take me... take me to my Henry..." Wynonna said. Her voice was weak and hoarse, almost as if her vocal cords had rusted.  
"Wynonna... I-I-I can't do this... Henry... he..." Waverly struggled to suppress the crying, "he's not here..."  
Wynonna turned her head to look her sister in the eyes, "take me to Henry..." the eyes of the white-haired woman, filled with warm tears that, if they had been tasted, would have tasted pain, bitter and dark pain.  
"Take me to where he walked for the last time... take me to where his life was broken..."  
Waverly didn't know the exact spot, but maybe, maybe it wouldn't have made any difference.  
"I need to feel it... I need to say goodbye..." irregular sobbing came out of Wynonna's throat, "I need to say goodbye..."  
Waverly was gonna say something, but eventually she nodded, "all right, Wynonna... let's go say goodbye..."

<<<o>>><<<o>>><<o>>

"Well... that's a strange thing..." the doctor commented, looking into Nicole's left eye.  
Nicole waited a few seconds, but the doctor kept staring silently at her.  
"So what?" Nicole asked, "what's wrong with my eye?" She closed the right one, "I can see you, badly, but I can see."  
He scratched his head under his short white hair, "well... your eye has changed pigmentation."  
"What color is it now? Can I have a mirror?" Nicole got up. Her heart was beating fast.  
"Behind you." The doctor pointed something behind Nicole's back.  
Nicole approached the sink, there was a mirror above it.  
"How is this possible...?" Nicole asked, looking at her reflection.  
"I have no idea." She saw the doctor raise his back in the mirror reflection.  
Nicole followed with her finger the enormous scar that started above the eyebrow and ended under the cheekbone, then she concentrated totally on the color of the iris: light blue, so light blue that it was almost white... the color of Satan's eyes... did anyone else know the color of the Beast's eyes? Was that a problem? Should she have kept it covered? Or perhaps she could use it to her advantage? But most of all, why did part of her non-human appearance manifest itself?

"I've never seen anything like this..." the doctor said again, "never in thirty years..."  
"It's wonderful and wrong at the same time..." Nicole said, without taking her eyes off the glass.  
"It's very beautiful, I agree. But it's also very interesting ... if I had the opportunity to study the phenomenon ... "  
"All in good time, Doctor." Nicole turned to him, "we have more important things to take care of now."  
He was about to say something, but Nicole's fierce, threatening gaze made him change his mind.  
"Do you have family?" Nicole approached him.  
"I don't understand..." the doctor felt he was in danger, even though he couldn't say why. The woman in front of him had completely transformed herself into something... of... unpleasant.  
Nicole smiled, "if you answer my questions without asking new ones, I'm sure everything will be easier."  
The doctor swallowed, "I have a daughter."  
Nicole stopped a few inches away from him, "do you love your daughter?"   
"I don't understand... of course I love her... but..."  
Nicole brings her index finger to her lips, "shh... you answer my questions and do as I command, and I promise you everything will be fine. Is she under the dome?"  
He nodded as his forehead was soaking in sweat.  
"Wonderful. I guess you don't want to be separated from her, right? You know, in times like these, a lot of bad, painful things happen..."  
"Tell me what you want, but leave Alice out of it... please." He'd started shaking. He realized Nicole wasn't a woman to play with.  
"Alice...? When she was a child, did you read Lewis Carroll's masterpiece to her?"  
"I read that book to her every night... she's just a child..."  
"We don't want her to fall down the rabbit hole, do we? The Queen of Hearts might cut her head off..." Nicole smiled horribly.  
"Please... I don't know what I did to you... but I'm begging you, stop...!"  
Nicole kept smiling, "you haven't done anything to me, but you're about to do something. You must choose whether the Hippocratic oath is worth more than your daughter's life."  
"-I will not administer to anyone, even if required, a deadly drug, nor suggest such advice - is this passage of the oath you refer to?"  
"I like smart people!" Nicole laughed hard.  
"Why...?"  
"I want you to go into the homes of the elderly, disabled and sick, and give them a vaccine, I don't know... against flu?"  
"A deadly vaccine..." the saliva could choke the doctor.  
"The effect doesn't have to be immediate: use something that leads to death in three or four days."   
"I don't think I'm capable of that... I'm not a murderer!"  
"You'll be the cause of your daughter's death if you don't do what I say." Nicole's face was serious again.  
"What if I turned you in? They'd kill you before you could touch my daughter."  
A horrible grin appeared on Nicole's face, "who could ever catch Satan?" She disappeared into a cloud.  
"You can't stop me." She said, reappearing behind the doctor's back.  
The doctor fell down from fright.  
"You are mine." Nicole knelt before the poor man. "Is that clear enough?"  
The doctor couldn't talk.  
"I'll take that as a yes." Nicole got up, "ah, one last thing: Wynonna Earp's not on your list, try not to forget that."  
At that moment, someone or something started banging on the clinic door.  
"This could be the first patient on our special list, what do you think?"   
He stayed on the floor, hoping his heart wouldn't burst in his chest.  
"Lucy? What are you doing here?" Nicole looked at the goat.  
"Mistress, we have a problem."  
At that moment, hearing a goat bleating as if it were really responding to Nicole, the doctor fainted.

<<<o>>><<<o>>><<o>>

  
"You're very weak, are you sure you can walk?" Waverly asked, holding Wynonna's unstable body.  
The white-haired woman nodded, taking a few steps into the front yard.  
"I don't know the exact spot where... where Henry..."   
"It doesn't matter... I want to take his last steps." Wynonna said, "I want to walk on the grass where he's been..."  
"We could approach the dome over there where Nicole's car is... It's far, but not too far..."  
"No, Waverly... I need to find the point where his life stopped..."  
"All right, Wynonna... I'm with you."  
At that moment, Lucy ran out of the barn.  
"Lucy!?" Waverly called the goat, but it didn't stop. It ran to Purgatory.  
"I hope she doesn't get hurt..." Waverly watched the animal become just a little white dot on the horizon, "Nicole wouldn't forgive me."  
"There are no motor vehicles... Lucy will be fine. And Nicole would forgive you anything. I see the way she looks at you... she looks at you like Henry... Henry looked at me..." the tears started falling again from Wynonna's eyes.

  
  


<<<o>>><<<o>>><<o>>

"Shit!" Nicole shouted.  
"Mistress, maybe it's not so bad. It's possible that the sisters can't get to the point. The older one, Wynonna is very weak. Besides, I don't think you've left a trace."  
"I can't be sure... that damn old woman distracted me... just a clue would ruin everything!" Nicole ran her hand through her red hair.  
"Let's kill them, Mistress. They're in the way, they're dangerous to you."  
Nicole grabbed Lucy's horn and lifted it, "you must never talk like that! Do you understand?!"  
The goat cried out in pain, "Forgive Mistress, I ask your forgiveness!"  
"Let's not waste time, I have to do something to stop them!" Nicole let go of the goat and ran out the door.

  
  


  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know which part of the world you come from, but here in Italy, our government, has asked its citizens to stay at home because of this new virus that is affecting us all without distinction of color or flag, not even of social class; what better opportunity to write and read? I will contribute to create something to read xD Apart from the jokes, I hope you all are well. Take care of yourselves!


	19. Bizarre Strategies

**19**

"Let's stop for a moment, Wynonna. You're so weak..." Waverly held Wynonna back.  
"He's dead... I'm alive..." Wynonna tried to keep going, but Waverly's hand kept holding her.  
"Here's the thing, Wynonna. I can't lose you, too..." Waverly breathed deeply, "there's nothing more we can do for him..."  
Wynonna stopped fighting, she turned to look at her sister, "he was my life, Waverly... I need... I don't know... stop being so cold."  
"I'm not cold, Wynonna... I'm trying to protect what's left of my family." Waverly's tone was sweet and understanding.  
Wynonna stared into her sister's eyes for a long moment, "forgive me, sis..." she said, lowering her head.  
"come here..." Waverly hugged Wynonna.  
"Someone doesn't seem in good health..." a male voice made the two sisters jump out of their socks. "It's time to clean up."  
"Jared... what are you doing here? I thought you were in Europe..." Waverly said, when she recovered from the scare.  
The man with the long black hair kept coming towards them, "I came back the day before this thing fell on our heads, which sucks!" He said, raising a baseball bat.  
"What do you want, Jared?" Wynonna didn't seem happy to see the man at all, and that feeling probably wasn't just caused by the menacing presence of the bat, "put that piece of wood down."  
He laughed loudly, "no, I don't think I will. Have you heard the words of our new sheriff? Death to the rejects." He paused as an ugly smile appeared on his face, "oh, speaking of sheriffs, I heard your husband died... I'd like to say I'm sorry, but that would be a bad lie."  
"What the hell is he talking about, Waverly?" Wynonna asked, choosing to ignore the man's comment about Henry.  
"Nicole would never order something like this. She introduced the death penalty again, but only for murderers and rapists." Waverly answered.  
"Oh, really? I thought I understood something different..." he kept giggling, "but it's not important, the most important thing is to rid the city of useless, sick things. And you, Wynonna, you seem to fall into that category."  
" She just lost her husband! If you weren't heartless, you'd understand!" Waverly yelled, stepping forward to protect Wynonna.  
"I may be heartless, but I have a stomach. And my stomach doesn't get enough food and water... I think the population must be reduced, the strong deserve to live."  
"Don't take another step!" Wynonna threatened.  
"Or what?" He asked, "what are you gonna do? Are you gonna tell the sheriff? But tell me one thing..." Jared put his chin to the bat, "do corpses talk?"  
"I won't let you touch my sister! Nicole would never allow such a thing! She will kill you if you try to touch me or my sister!" Waverly was trying not to look scared but confident.  
He shook his head and started swinging the baseball bat again, "I don't see it that way: I'm convinced that if I took the superfluous out of the way, well, she would reward me, maybe with more food or water... or with her beautiful red pussy!" He exploded into a sick, perverted laugh.  
"Get out, now!" Wynonna yelled.  
"Look at you, you can't even stand up, how the hell do you think you can stop me?"   
"But I do, and if you don't leave... I'm gonna hurt you, Jared." Waverly said.  
"Shut up." He raised his bat, "I got nothing against you, Waverly Earp, but if you don't get out of the way, I won't hesitate to hit you too."  
"Try it, and I guarantee you Nicole will make you spit blood!" Waverly didn't move, still protecting Wynonna with her body.  
"That's enough!" He grabbed Waverly by the arm and knocked her down. Waverly's head hit a rock.  
"Shit..." Jared whispered, looking at the blood coming out of Waverly's right temple.  
"Waverly!" Wynonna was having trouble maintaining her balance, but she tried to reach her sister's still body.  
" Well, I'm screwed now, so I don't think killing you is gonna make any difference at this point." He began to advance on Wynonna with his bat up and ready to strike. "You should have chosen me, not that loser cowboy... I was the man for you."

  
<<<o>>><<<o>>><<o>>

"I have to buy time! Go back to where I left Doc's bike and make sure everything goes according to my plan." Nicole said, while she and Lucy ran through the little streets of the city.  
"Mistress, let me help!" Lucy said, running beside Nicole.  
"I accept your help, but explain yourself! The Earp sisters must not suffer any harm, that must be clear!" Nicole replied, slowing the race down a bit.  
"Yes, Mistress." The goat stops.  
"What are you doing?" Nicole asked, stopping in a dark alley a few steps from the goat.  
"I've had a lot of time to study the Earp family. I think I know what to do, but I need your trust and your permission, Mistress."  
"You have my trust and my permission, Lucy. Tell me what you're thinking." Nicole said, looking at the clock: according to her calculations there wasn't much time left, even though the sisters were slow because of Wynonna's condition... there wasn't much time left.  
"There's a man who often wanders, especially at night, near Homestead. I think he's an old lover rejected by Wynonna." Lucy said, then she added, "it's someone no one would miss, someone with a connection to the Earps who could buy us time without being ignored or killed right away."  
"I don't follow you..." Nicole admitted.  
"He's a criminal who often steals food and supplies. All he wants is more food... it'll be easy to fool." Lucy said.  
"I don't know where you came up with this idea, but I don't have the time or even better ideas. Where can I find this man?"  
"I'll take care of it, Mistress..." Lucy said.  
"Okay, but just know that's the craziest thing I've ever heard... and why didn't you tell me there's a man walking around the house where I live?"   
"I'm sorry, Mistress, I thought you knew..." Lucy put her head down, she was afraid of being punished.  
"Never mind." Nicole raised her hands, "can you lead me to him?"  
"No, Mistress, but I can go to him and lead him to the Earps. I just need to ask your permission to do something."  
"Speak." Nicole nodded.  
"May I take your shape, Mistress?"  
"What...?" Nicole shook her head: she was stunned by the absurdity of everything she had just heard from the goat. "Never mind... yes, you have my permission." She said at the end.  
"All right, Mistress, trust me."  
Nicole nodded before disappearing into a black cloud.

The red-haired woman reappeared at the spot where she had faked Doc's death, where Henry's bicycle was still lying with the wheel twisted.

"The sheriff in person, what an honor!" Jared said, throwing down a shovel and work gloves, "you came to tell me how to grow tomatoes? I'd love to have tomatoes, but in this little vegetable garden only potatoes grow... little dried potatoes! Water is not enough."  
"Would you like your daily rations to double or triple?" the goat disguised as Nicole asked.   
"Don't make fun of me, Sheriff." The man shook his head.  
"You see, I was very kind. I could have threatened your life instead of offering a deal." Lucy smiled, Nicole's mouth smiled.  
"Threatening me with death? Watch your mouth, woman!" The man points the big finger at the sheriff.  
"I know you've been lurking outside my house almost every night. I also know you've been stealing supplies. I have every reason to sentence you to death."  
The man started laughing as if he had just heard the funniest thing in the world, "maybe you didn't understand: I am a man and you are a woman. If I killed you here, and buried you in my garden, who would ever know? Look around, there's nobody here but you and me!" The man extended his arms.  
"You're starting to make me nervous, Jared." Lucy took a few steps towards the man, "I'm not a woman to play with, don't make me prove it to you."  
In response, the man tried to throw a punch, but his hand was stopped by Lucy's.  
"You're hurting me!" The man cried as his wrist was clamped in a steel grip.  
"I could break every bone in your body." Lucy said, "you have only two options, one: listen and do as I say, or two: die and become manure for this barren land."  
"Okay! Okay, I'm listening, but let go of my wrist, damn it!" The man cried out.  
Lucy freed Jared, "the first thing you need to know is that if you try to hurt the Earp sisters I will kill you, but it will not be a quick death, much less a painless one. Do you understand?"

<<<o>>><<<o>>><<o>>

"You're not even worth a fingernail from my husband! You were always a loser, Jared!" Wynonna said.  
"A loser...? Bitch!" He raised the bat, he was ready to hit Wynonna.  
"What man would hit an unarmed woman?"   
"I'd have given you the moon if you'd asked..." he didn't lower his baseball bat.  
"Just one thing I asked you, Jared... Just one thing: Stop drinking..." Wynonna was looking for a way to get to Waverly, but she didn't see any. The bat was gonna hit her.  
"I'm not the drunk you always described! I was looking for refuge in the bottle because your thighs were always closed to me!" He yelled.  
"And when my thighs were forcibly opened by your hands? You came home drunk... I didn't even have time to give you any pain..."  
"You never tried to understand me..." he said.  
"You're not a man, Jared, you're shit..." Wynonna shook her head, "now let me pass and get the hell out of here."  
"I'll kill you, I swear I'll kill you!" The bat hit Wynonna's forearm, which she had raised to protect her face.  
Jared was about to strike the second blow, even though Wynonna was on the ground, completely defenseless. But Waverly pushed him against the barrier...

"No... Shit, no!" Nicole had witnessed the scene and now she was running towards the Earp sisters.  
"Waverly!?" She shouted and kept running towards them.  
"Nicole!" Wynonna and Waverly said.  
"Waverly... your soul..." Nicole looked at the dust and ash pile, the same pile that Jared was once... "your soul is now stained..."  
"Nicole..." Waverly didn't seem to hear the words of the redheaded woman.  
"Why...?" Nicole seemed prey to a sharp, dark fear. She hadn't arrived in time... she was supposed to shoot Jared and be their hero once again... but the plan had failed... Waverly's soul was no longer pure...  
"Nicole... I-I-I didn't want to do it... I... he..." Waverly burst into a desperate cry as she hugged Nicole.  
"Shit..." Wynonna managed to get back on her feet, "it's my fault... if I hadn't insisted on coming here... shit...!" She shook her head, "I never wanted you to have to do that. Forgive me, Waverly." She said, looking at her sister's back.  
"It's not your fault, Wynonna... It's my fault... I didn't protect you... I failed... I was so stupid and slow, damn it!" Nicole cried out, and Waverly could feel the redheaded woman's chest vibrating loudly with the power of the cry.


	20. Our Actions - Part 1

**20**

"It's okay, Waverly... you didn't have a choice." Nicole surrounded the girl's body with her strong arms.  
"Nicole," Wynonna stepped towards the two women hugging, "what does it mean that Waverly's soul is no longer pure?"  
The red-headed woman put her chin on Waverly's head and looked Wynonna in the eyes, "I'm glad you're getting back to yourself, Wynonna."  
"Speak, Nicole! Do you know something we don't?" Wynonna wasn't about to give up. She had a feeling she couldn't ignore.  
"No, Wynonna... It's just a figure of speech." Nicole replied, continuing to stare into the eyes of the white-haired woman.  
"Then why do you look so upset?" Wynonna had her eyes fixed in Nicole's, too.  
For some strange reason, Nicole's mental powers were slow to take effect on Wynonna.  
"I said it's just a figure of speech, Wynonna." Nicole's right eye turned light blue, a color not too different from her left, "it's just a figure of speech, I don't know anything more than you do."  
Wynonna took her head in hands, she felt like she was going to pass out, "I, I feel confused..." she said.  
"It's normal, Wynonna. It's never easy to see one human beings die, no matter who." Nicole's eyes never left her face.  
Wynonna had the feeling that something was trying to get inside her skull, like a wedge in the wood... it was a painful feeling, but a pleasant one at the same time.  
A few minutes passed in which Waverly and Wynonna felt that time had stopped or at least followed different and unknown rules.

"Can you see with your left eye?" Wynonna asked.  
"Yes, Wynonna, thank you for asking." Nicole gave her a soft, pleasant smile.  
At that moment Waverly walked away from Nicole's chest so she could look at the woman's face. "My God..." she said, looking at the huge scar that defaced Nicole's beautiful face. "Nicole... I'm so sorry..."  
"Is it that bad?" The woman asked.  
"Yes... no... I'm just sorry... why is your eye that weird color?"  
Nicole shrugged, "even the doctor couldn't give me an answer."  
"Shit... I'm a horrible person..." Waverly said, "I'm offending you, and I'm acting like I didn't just kill someone... I suck...!"  
"Hey..." Nicole took Waverly's face in her hands and looked into her eyes, "you did the right thing: you protected what you love... something I wasn't able to do."  
"Nicole..." Waverly tried to look at the pile of ash, but Nicole's hands held her still.  
"It's okay, Waverly... it's okay..." Nicole said.  
"I know it's not good... but... I... I... I think you're right... Nicole..." that feeling again, that strange feeling...  
"What is it? Mind control?" Wynonna asked.  
Nicole looked up to the sky, it was really hard to manage two minds at once...  
The red-haired woman again brought Waverly's head closer to her chest, and once again, she looked Wynonna in the eyes. "No, Wynonna... It's called comfort..."  
Wynonna nodded, "it's comfort..."  
"Exactly." Nicole nodded too. "Come with me, I thought I understood you were going where Henry..."  
"Thank you, Nicole..." Wynonna smiled at her.

"I'd like to be alone for a while... forgive me." Wynonna said, kneeling next to the bicycle with the wheel twisted.  
"Are you sure, Wynonna...? You're very weak." Waverly didn't seem convinced.  
"If Wynonna's not back by tonight, I'll come back here." Nicole said, then she turned to Waverly, "come with me, I'll drive you home..."  
"Thank you, Nicole... you're an angel." Wynonna said.  
"An angel..." Nicole whispered. "It's okay, Wynonna." She said, louder.

After Nicole drove Waverly home, she went to the barn.  
"You and I have to talk." Nicole's tone was fierce.  
"Yes, Mistress..." Lucy answered, keeping her head down on the hay.  
"Stay here and wait for my return. I have to take care of something first. But I swear if you are not here when I return... I will hang your head from a tree." It was clear that Nicole was having difficulty controlling her fury, but there were more urgent things she had to deal with now.  
"I will stay here, Mistress... You have my word." The goat answered.  
Nicole turned her back and came out of the barn.

  
<<<o>>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

Nicole had no problem finding the doctor's house.  
She approached a little girl playing on the front yard.  
"Hello, little girl." Nicole smiled at the girl. "What's your name?"  
"Alice..." the little one replied, looking curiously at the newcomer, "my daddy doesn't want me to talk to strangers..." but curiosity was getting the better of the fear of a reprimand.  
"I'm not a stranger. I'm the sheriff and a good friend of your good daddy's." Nicole came into the yard, "did I hear wrong, or is your name Alice?"  
" That's how it is." Alice answered.  
"What a beautiful name! Have you seen a white rabbit pass over there? I saw him running by and he said, "I'm going to be late, for God's sake! I'll be late! And meanwhile he was looking at a pocket watch! I thought he' d walked by here."  
The little girl's face became radiant, like the most beautiful spring day, "it means that near here is the entrance to Wonderland!" She cried out, excited by the idea.  
"That's exactly what it is!" Nicole said, then took a serious expression, "I'm from Wonderland, but I can't find the entrance anymore!"  
"Oh! And that's why your face is so funny?!" Alice asked, looking at Nicole's scar and eye.  
"That's right, the Queen of Hearts tried to cut my head off! But I ran away!" Nicole answered. "Will you help me find the rabbit hole?"  
Before the girl could answer, a voice turned Nicole around and made Alice pale.  
"Alice! Get inside the house now!" The doctor yelled, his voice trembled loudly.  
"But Daddy! This lady said that..." but Alice wasn't able to finish the cutter because her father's voice ordered her back into the house.  
"Don't worry, my sweet Alice, I'll wait for you to enter Wonderland." Nicole smiled at the little girl's sad face before she went inside the house.  
"What do you think you're doing?" The doctor stopped a few steps away from Nicole, "she has nothing to do with this!" He yelled.  
Nicole laughed, "I like you a lot better when you're scared... but I guess all this courage comes from a fatherly sense, from the need to protect a little big part of us..." Nicole looked towards the doctor's house, "I don't know the love of a father... but it must feel really good to know that someone would be able to fight Satan himself to defend me..."  
"She's all I have left..." he took off his glasses, as if he wanted to remove every barrier between his eyes and Nicole's, "my life goes on for her... Please, I can't believe you'd be able to hurt something so small and pure."  
Nicole turned to the doctor again, "you want to know the difference between you and me, doctor?"   
"What is...?" He asked.  
Nicole continued to grin horribly and ferociously, "human life has no value to me."  
"It's not true." He said, looking her straight in the eyes, "I remember well what you told me about the Earp sisters, and I remember well the way you look at the youngest of the sisters. God will not punish you for loving a woman, but for your actions."   
"God has already pierced my heart! And I can assure you that He doesn't give a damn about the sex we love!" Huge pulsating veins appeared on Nicole's throat and forehead, "God is not love!"  
"This is blasphemy!" Even the doctor cried out.  
"You and all human beings are a blasphemy against life!" Nicole was in a rage again. "You are vile creatures!"  
"And what are you? Huh? A demon, nothing but a demon sent from the Underworld!"  
"My patience is running out, Doctor..." Nicole's voice trembled. "I suggest you hurry up with those vaccines, or this will be the last time you see your daughter!" Nicole headed for the road.  
"Your heart is full of pain and darkness, but you are the cause of your own pain!" The doctor yelled as Nicole disappeared into a black cloud.

  
<<<o>>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

"Forgive me, I wasn't with you..." Wynonna's fingers touched the twisted wheel. "I promised I'd always be by your side... but I wasn't with you when you really needed me..." Tears fell endlessly from Wynonna's eyes.  
"Yes, we always die alone... but I thought I'd be sitting by your bedside when winter brought white to your hair and time marked your face with cobwebs of wrinkles I wouldn't be able to count." She took a handkerchief and blew her nose, "I thought we'd have time to be disappointed and made proud by our children... I thought we'd have more time to love and hurt each other..." she stood up, "I'll be back tomorrow, my love..." she took a hand to her mouth, put a kiss on her fingers and then put it on the bicycle, "an unconventional tombstone, like you were, my love."  
Wynonna began to walk towards Homestead, if only she had turned around, she might have seen a cowboy hiding behind bushes, she might have seen the tears of a desperate man.


	21. Our Actions - Part 2

**21**

"I should cut your throat!" Nicole was shaking with rage.  
"Do it, Mistress... I will accept my punishment."  
Nicole remained silent, she kept thinking plan B had screwed up. If she couldn't find a way out of the dome in a year... she, yes, she would have let Waverly out. Nicole was sure that Waverly's soul was pure, but now it wasn't.  
"I wish I could blame you for my incompetence," Nicole said, "but I can't blame you for what happened. I should have thought of something else, but time was short and I was in too much of a hurry..."  
"Won't you punish me, Mistress? Won't you raise your cane against me?" Lucy asked.  
"No... I won't hurt you." Nicole shook her head and she turned her back to the goat, "I'm not a monster..." she whispered.  
"You'd be able to throw a child out of this dome, I know that's what you meant when you told Alice you'd go to Wonderland, separate her from her father and, in all likelihood, sentence her to death... but you can't hit a goat?"  
"Animals are different from humans..." Nicole froze, turning to Lucy again, "how do you know the words I said to that little girl?!"  
"I know many things, Sheriff." The goat turned into the doctor, and Alice's father. "It was me, in that yard. While the real doctor was giving people your special vaccine."  
Nicole started to back away, "what?!? How...?!"   
"Who can say?" The doctor smiled.  
"No!" Nicole took her head in hands, "who the hell are you?!"   
"Who can say?" The doctor said, turning into the dirty old lady.  
"You again?! What do you want from me?!" Nicole screamed.  
"Who can say?" The old woman showed her toothless smile.  
"Why are you doing this to me?! Are you trying to drive me crazy?! And I swear, if you ever use that expression again: who can say... I... I... I...!"   
"You are a lost creature, Nicole Lucifer Haught... why is it every time you get close to salvation, I don't know, you run away? Why are you incapable of doing the right thing?" The old woman asked.  
"What do you want from me?! Give me a real answer!" Nicole cried out, letting herself fall on her knees.  
"We are what we do, Nicole... we are our actions, and you are doing very bad things."  
"But I wasn't punished for my bad actions, I was punished for saving my mother from hell!"  
"That was the best thing you ever did, Nicole." The old lady took a step towards the red-haired woman, "you broke the rules, but it wasn't just out of selfishness: you wanted to redeem the soul of someone you thought was innocent."  
"There can be no fault in loving! My mother didn't deserve that punishment! She didn't deserve to die and she didn't deserve hell!"  
"Do you remember when the goat that you called Lucy first appeared? Can you remember what happened that day?" The old woman asked.  
"It was the first day under this damn dome, shortly after I met Waverly..." Nicole answered.  
"What did you do, seconds after you found me dressed like a goat, Nicole?"  
"What have I done? Nothing!" Nicole shouted, "speak up, old woman! What are you trying to tell me?!"  
"You've done nothing... nothing good!" The old woman yelled, "you let the truck crash, you pretended to feel pain... you started your insane, sick plan!"  
"I'm just trying to survive under this damn dome..." Nicole's voice was almost a growl.  
"You've gotten so good at lying, now you can even fool yourself..." the old woman shook her head. "What do you really want, Nicole?"  
"I want to live! I want to live, you damned old woman!"   
"Liar!" She yelled, "what does your heart want?!"  
"Shut up! I don't want to hear your damn voice anymore!!!" Nicole covered her ears, but the old woman's voice still penetrated her head.  
"You didn't hesitate to involve a man you'd never seen before to gain time and play the role of the hero once again!"  
"It was your idea! It was you!!!!" Nicole pointed the finger at the old lady.  
"And all you did was keep on causing pain! It was your hands that dirtied that girl's soul, Nicole! Not mine!"  
"Go away!" Nicole felt like she was on the verge of going crazy.  
"You have condemned so many people to death without hesitation! You never tried to find a solution, you're evil and selfish!"  
"I may be selfish, but evil does not dwell in my heart!"  
"You took the light out of your own eyes, Nicole." The old woman said.  
"The light prevents you from seeing!" Nicole replied.  
"You've sentenced them all to death... even your precious Waverly will die under this dome, and it's all your fault."  
"NO!" Nicole grabbed the old lady's neck and knocked her down. "I'll kill you!"  
"Nicole! What the hell are you doing?" Wynonna's hands grabbed Nicole's shoulders, "so you kill her!"  
"That's what I want, she has to die!" Nicole yelled, as her back landed on the hay, "I want to kill her, I never want to hear her voice again!"  
"Her voice? Are you out of your mind?! It's just a poor goat, damn it, Nicole!" Wynonna knelt next to Lucy, who was lying on her side, she seemed to have difficulty breathing.   
"What? NO!" Nicole stood up suddenly, "she's not who she says she is! She's a witch, maybe a demon!" Nicole was about to attack the goat again, but Wynonna literally jumped on her, and they both fell on the hay, "Nicole, look at me!" She said, standing astride Nicole's belly, "look at me, Nicole... it's all right... okay?"  
"No, you don't understand! It's not a goat! It's the old woman who was trying to warn you about the dome! She's driving me crazy! I can't stand her shrill voice anymore! Get off me, I have to kill her-" Nicole couldn't say everything she wanted because Wynonna slapped her.  
"Stop it! You're gonna have a stroke if you keep acting like that!" She ordered her.  
"How could you dare? How dare you hit my face?! You don't know who I am!" Nicole yelled, trying to get free of Wynonna's body.  
"I'm gonna hit you again if you don't calm down! You can be Queen of England as far as I'm concerned right now!"  
"What the hell is going on here?!" Waverly stopped at the barn door to watch the scene, "why are you fighting?! Are you crazy?!"  
"Nicole's the crazy one!" Wynonna said, looking at her sister, "she was trying to kill Lucy."  
"She's not a goat..." Nicole whispered, now the anger was giving way to fear.  
"You will regret your every action..." Lucy said, before she ran out of the barn.  
"Did you hear her?!" Nicole finally got Wynonna down.  
"Nicole, calm down!" Waverly grabbed Nicole before she could run after Lucy.  
"No... I..." Nicole shook her head and surrendered to Waverly's arms.  
"Bring her in, we all need a glass of rum..." Wynonna said, cleaning her clothes.


	22. What My Heart Truly Wants

**22**

"Drink..." Wynonna placed a half-full glass in front of Nicole on the kitchen table.  
"How do you do it, Wynonna?" Nicole took the glass, but before she drank the amber liquid, she looked at it as if all the answers were trapped in the glass.  
"Doing what?" Wynonna asked, sitting next to her.  
"For almost a week you were the closest thing to a vegetable I've ever seen... today you're back to yourself, instantly... how did you do it? Where do you find the strength to keep fighting?" Finally Nicole's lips settled on the cold glass.  
"The human mind is capable of extraordinary things..." Wynonna answered.  
Nicole smiled, "that's your answer?"  
"I can't think of anything smarter to say... I'd like to tell you that I did it for Waverly, but that wouldn't be entirely true... all I could think about these last few days... was death."  
"Death... that extraordinary thing that separates us from everything else..." Nicole took another sip of rum, "that thing that torments us to the point of wishing for it..."  
"I don't understand you, Nicole." Wynonna said, having a sip of rum, too.  
Nicole shook her head and smiled, "I don't understand me either..."  
"Why were you trying to kill that poor goat, Nicole? What happened in your red head?"  
"Sometimes we think we're Alice, but what if we're the Queen of Hearts?" Nicole finished her drink.  
"Nicole, I hate to be repetitious, but I really don't understand you." Wynonna looked at the outline of Nicole's face.  
"I thought I was the victim... but maybe I'm the killer..." Nicole's hand squeezed the glass tight, "I'm the villain of the fairy tale!" The glass shattered, cutting Nicole's hand in several points.  
"Shit, Nicole!" Wynonna took Nicole's left hand in hers, "you cut yourself!"  
"Red blood..." Nicole also watched her hand bleed, "maybe it's the blood thing, materially, closer to the soul... the heart is transparent... the blood colors it red... did you know that?"  
" Stay still, I'll get something to take the shrapnel out and stop the bleeding!" Wynonna got up.  
"The blood that slips out of our veins... like life, as soon as cells become sperm, slips out of our entire body..."   
"Nicole..." Wynonna placed handkerchiefs and disinfectant on the table, then she took pliers to remove glass splinters from Nicole's flesh.  
"I know my life is destined to end... but then why do I do anything for survival?" She shook her head, "maybe she was right: I am lying to myself... what my heart really wants is..." a tear left Nicole's right eye.  
"Nicole, I think you better take a break. You've been working too hard, taking care of too many things, you're gonna go crazy..." Wynonna said, pulling a piece of glass out of Nicole's hand, "the city can survive a couple of days without you."  
"You know, Wynonna, I think the town..." but Nicole chose not to finish the sentence.  
"Wynonna, Nicole!" Waverly entered into the house like a fury.  
"Did you find Lucy?" Wynonna asked, without taking her eyes off Nicole's hand.  
"No," Waverly said, "but I found bad news... the water's turning to sand...!"  
"And I'm the bad guy..." Nicole whispered, she knew it was the old lady's work.  
"What do you mean?!" Wynonna looked at Waverly the way one looks at a crazy.  
"I gotta go." Nicole stood up.  
"Stop, your hand!" Wynonna tried to hold Nicole back, but the woman didn't seem intent on stopping.  
"My hand is fine, thank you, Wynonna." Before anyone could do anything, Nicole ran to the door.

Nicole sat on the grass, now yellowed by the cold and lack of water, in the doctor's yard.  
The red-haired woman looked at the stars wondering how many of them had died, when their light would stop traveling to Earth, she wondered if it was really important to know.  
"Where is her mother?" Nicole asked, without her eyes leaving the night sky, "Is she still alive?"  
The doctor came into the yard with a wobbly step, "where's Alice...?"  
Finally Nicole lowered her head, concentrating on the doctor's face, lit by the full moon, "in her bed, I think."  
"I did as you asked. Please leave my daughter alone now..." the doctor's voice was full of terror, "take my life, but leave Alice alone..."  
"I came all the way down here to tell you not to administer those vaccines... but I realize that it's too late for most of them now... How many will die, Doctor?" Nicole asked, standing up.  
" All..."   
"All...?" Nicole advanced on the doctor.  
"I did exactly as you ordered: sick, old and disabled... all..." the doctor's voice continued to tremble.  
"Is it a reversible process? What did you use?" Nicole asked.  
"No... there's no way to go back... I used a substance similar to acid... the internal organs will start to melt, and death will come after a short time..."  
"Is it a painful death?" Nicole asked.  
"No... it's not... they will lose consciousness as soon as their lungs and liver stop working... they will go into a sleep without awakening..."  
"Did you really sentence all those people to death for your daughter?" Nicole stopped a few steps away from the man, "why?"  
"Out of fear... out of love..." he answered.  
"I understand..." Nicole nodded, "you know I'll see you in hell, right?"  
"I don't care..." he shook his head, "hell's been waiting for me a long time."  
"What for?" Nicole asked, "did you kill someone? I mean, before today?"  
"I don't know why I'm confessing to you... but I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?" He smiled, a sad, tired smile.  
"I guess not." Nicole nodded.  
"When Alice was born, I had to make a choice. The pregnancy was very complicated, I could only save one of them... I chose Alice. I played God, I chose who could live and who had to die..."  
"My mother also chose to die to let me live... it would have been much better if she'd chosen differently. Do you think so too?" Nicole smiled, her smile was very similar to the doctor's.  
"I don't know you, but even though you are Satan or a messenger... I cannot see the evil in your eyes." The doctor said.  
"What do you see in my eyes?"  
"Nothing..." he shook his head, "nothing but pain and loneliness, fear and anger. I know that look, I've had that look for years, before I accepted my choices."  
Nicole bent down to the doctor's height, "I'll let you in on a little secret..." she whispered, in the doctor's ear, "good and evil do not exist where we are going."  
"There is God and Satan, isn't there?" He asked as he struggled not to sneeze because of the smell of sulfur that Nicole gave off.  
"Yes..." Nicole whispered, "but they are very different from what you humans imagine them to be..."  
"What are they really like?" He asked.  
"Are you sure you want to know?"  
The man hesitated, "no... I don't want to know..."  
"Bravo." Nicole put her hand on the doctor's shoulder, and she walked out of the yard.  
"Wait!" He said, "why did you change your mind about killing those people?"  
Nicole did not turn around, "I wanted to know what it feels like to do the right thing. If saving lives can be a good thing..." she vanished into a black cloud.

  
<<<o>>><<o>><<<o>>>

Waverly woke up when she felt something leaning against her bed.  
"Nicole? Is that you?!" She asked, trying to penetrate the darkness of the room.  
"It's me, don't be afraid..." the woman looked at Waverly's face, knowing the girl couldn't see her. "Can I lie down next to you?"  
"Sure," the girl moved to make space for the woman, "where have you been, Nicole? Your hand is hurt."  
"I was trying to do something good, but I failed." She said, leaning her body against Waverly's, "I'm incapable of doing good, except to myself."  
"That's not true, Nicole. Why would you say that?" Waverly's eyes were looking for Nicole's, but the darkness kept them apart.  
"Why does my heart tremble when I see you? Why does everything else disappear when I think of you?" Nicole looked into Waverly's restless eyes, who were still searching for her in the dark of night.  
"What...?"  
"I did not choose to..." Nicole hesitated, "I didn't choose to fall in love with you, but I did. And I don't know how to stop my heart from beating for you..."  
"When did you realize you were in love with me?"  
Nicole smiled, "the moment my eyes met yours. It was right to love you before I even knew your voice or smell... it was the right thing."  
"Why won't you love me?" Waverly's voice was a whisper.  
"Because you are my ruin, and I am yours."  
"Nicole... I don't understand..."  
"I have desired your love from the first moment, I have desired it even though I knew I would never be able to deserve it. It's a terrible pain. I did everything I could to be unworthy of love."  
"What are you talking about?" She asked.  
"For some strange reason, I don't know, I thought you'd finally love me..."   
"Nicole... I don't know how I feel for you, but it's something very close to love."  
"You want to know why you don't know how you feel for me?" Nicole asked, caressing Waverly's cheek, "do you want me to tell you?"  
"Nicole...?"  
"Because you don't know me... because deep down in your heart you know that loving me isn't right. It's not something your brain tells you, it's the whispering of your instinct. You can't love a shadow without knowing who's darkening the sun... you can't do it."  
"Nicole, what's happening to you?"   
"I don't know... I'm scared." Nicole answered. "I feel that everything is about to find its epilogue, an end that I'm not ready to accept."  
"Nicole... I'm... I'm in pain to feel your pain..."  
"If you knew who was hiding behind my mask, you'd be happy to cause me pain..."  
"What? No! I... I couldn't hurt you..."  
"You know what causes me the most pain, Waverly?"  
"No, I don't know, Nicole..."  
The woman smiled, and tears penetrated her open lips, "no matter what happens tomorrow... I will never know if you can love me, just for what I am. It breaks my heart. And it makes me angry, because I'm the cause of my own torment, me and my actions..."  
Waverly remained silent.  
"I need to figure out if..." Nicole wiped her tears, "I need to figure out if I can save you."  
Waverly felt Nicole's body move away, "save me from what, Nicole?"  
But Nicole had already vanished into a black cloud.

"Old woman! I know you can hear me! Show yourself!" Nicole cried out, she was close to what was left of poor Morgana, far enough away for no one to hear her cries.  
"Show yourself!"  
But the night remained silent.  
"Please..." she whispered, letting herself fall on her knees.  
The minutes went by, maybe they turned into hours, Nicole couldn't tell.  
"I will not return water to Purgatory."   
Nicole raised her head to look at the old woman's face, but said nothing.  
"What's the difference between you and the God you hate so much, Nicole?" The old woman asked.  
"None. I administer life and death according to my pleasure..." Nicole answered.  
"Wrong." The old woman said.  
"Then I can't answer your question."  
"What do you want from me? Why did you call me?" The old woman asked.  
"Don't you know?"  
"I want to hear it from your mouth."  
"I want to save the woman I love..." Nicole said.  
"The woman who will most likely never love you." The old woman smiled.  
"I don't care..."  
"Yes, you do, or you would have done the right thing already." The old woman said.  
"I don't know what to do."  
"That's not true, you know what you have to do, but you don't want to do it. It's very different, especially because wanting is power."  
Nicole remained silent.  
"You have three days, five at the most, before you all die of thirst. It's a bad death, Nicole."  
"Why did you decide to intervene tonight? You've been watching all this time and now you take away the most precious good: water...! Why did you do that?!"  
"Because you're no fun anymore." The old woman answered.  
"What?" Nicole looked at the old woman's face for clues, but she couldn't decipher them.  
"I wanted to see how far your selfishness could go. But it's only a matter of time, little time, before one of the inhabitants kills you. And do you know what will happen if one of them kills you, Nicole?"  
"No, I have no idea..."  
"The city of Purgatory would sink, literally, to the underworld. Even the children, if you're wondering." The old woman answered.  
"To what end?! Why?" Nicole cried out.  
"The city is under examination, too, only they, unlike you, don't know it."  
"So it was a test... not a punishment... I..."  
"Yes, Nicole," the old woman nodded, "you had a chance to get out of this dome, your sins would be erased. But now it seems clear to me that you know it's too late." She smiled, "your beliefs, the lies you told yourself, have led you where you are now."  
"What lies?" Nicole asked.  
"Do we really want to continue this game?"   
"I want the truth!"   
"No, I don't think you want the truth. Every time you run away."  
"Please!" Nicole pleaded, " it' s to do with my mother, isn't it?"  
The old lady laughed, "ah, so you know?"  
"What?! Tell me!"


	23. Right and Wrong

**23**

"Why, Nicole?" The old woman asked, "why do you seem to take pleasure in suffering?" She paused, and looked at the young woman who looked at her with mad desperation. "it seems that this aura of heaviness and drama can never leave you."  
"Please... I want to know about my mother..."  
"I wish I knew the reason why you're so..." she scratched the thick tangle of dirty gray hair, "so wrong."  
"Why don't you answer me...?" Nicole asked.  
The old woman smiled, "I want to figure some things out about you first."  
"To what end?"  
"See, you're indulging my desire, setting aside even the thing you care about most. Why are you doing this?"  
Nicole hesitated, struggling not to lose control, "it seems that satisfying you is the only way to get answers."  
"Why do you keep saying human life has no value to you? Is it to believe that you can feel no pain for what you did to your adoptive family? Is that guilt you're feeling?"  
"No..." Nicole shook her head, "I see human beings the way they see a pig or a turkey."  
"Food?"  
"No, beings who do not deserve life more than other creatures. I can't understand why killing is wrong. It makes no sense to me."  
"Because you cause pain, Nicole." The old woman said, her tone was softer, almost like a grandmother's.  
"The corpses feel no pain." Nicole said.  
"But the living do, Nicole. Those who remain in this world are missing those they loved." The old woman smiled, "killing someone means punishing other people, not the victim."  
"What if I don't care about their pain? Why must I empathize with worthless beings?"  
"Are you asking me why you're being punished for something you don't understand, something you don't think is wrong?"  
"Yes, that's what I'm asking." Nicole nodded.  
"Who can say?" The old woman shrugged.  
"Even you don't know?"   
"That's right. That's one of the big questions. Questions that have different answers, depending on who you ask."  
"If the answer is not one, why does the soul get dirty? Why does it tear?"  
"Who can say?" The old woman smiled, "the laws that govern this space-time are so unpredictable and arcane."  
"What does that mean? Are there other time lines? Other universes?!"  
"Of course."  
Nicole remained silent.  
"Why does this seem to upset you?" She asked.  
"Is there a universe where I'm happy with the woman I love? Where my mother is alive and by my side?"  
"Sure. But hey, get that idea out of your head. You can't change universe."  
"How do you know about the existence of other universes? Do you have access to other worlds?"  
"Of course I can travel between worlds. What a silly question!"  
"Who are you?" Nicole asked.  
"I am everything, I am nothing. It depends on who's asking."  
"You can't give me the same answer, an answer that's not an answer!" Nicole yelled.  
"Who are you? Who asks me who I am?"  
" I am many things..." Nicole replied, "a woman, a murderer, the daughter of Satan, a person... I am many things..."  
"What are you really?" The old woman asked.  
Nicole remained silent for a few seconds, "nothing and everything... I am nothing and everything... depends on who asks!"  
" Well done,Nicole. So?"  
"My nothing and my everything depends on my actions, on who I have in front of me... this decrees who or what I am..."  
"And if you never had the chance to meet other complex life forms, like animals or humans, who or what would you be?"  
"Maybe I wouldn't exist because..."  
"Because, perhaps, the perception of ourselves is only possible through the eyes of others." The old lady's finished. "How would you know you exist if no one else knows?"  
"You said I never did the right thing... but if, I repeat, there is not a single answer then..."  
"Go ahead, Nicole, you have the answer to your question." The old woman said.  
"I've never done the right thing for me... I'm the one who feels I've done wrong, even though I don't understand why I feel it's wrong. It's my truth..."  
"Killing is wrong because human beings in this universe have decided so, even though they can't really answer why, it's so wrong."  
"Why are you here?" Nicole asked, after a few minutes of silence.  
The old woman smiled, "because this is where I decided to be."  
"Sure." Nicole nodded, she couldn't expect anything different.  
"Well, my work here is done."   
"What? No! You have to tell me about my mother first!" Nicole tried to get up, but her knees were stiff and painful: she had been kneeling on the road for too long.  
"No, I don't owe you anything. I've reached my goal: you understood everything you had to understand. When you see your father, well, he'll be the one to ask you what really happened thirty-three years ago." The old woman smiled and then she turned her back to Nicole, "goodbye."  
"What's your name?" Nicole cried out desperately, "how do I find you?! Will I ever see you again?"  
"Who can say?" The old woman passed Morgana on the side and she vanished through the dome. **  
**

The sun lit up that part of the world, and Nicole managed to get back on her feet.  
She looked towards the Homestead and saw a figure walking. She was far away, but the white of her hair revealed the identity of the person: Wynonna.  
Nicole had no time or desire to find out where Wynonna was headed.   
With sore legs, she walked home, back to Waverly.

"Wynonna left before dawn, and you look like you spent the night with a ghost. May I know what the hell is going on in this house?!" Waverly looked tired and upset, not too different from Nicole.  
"I need to talk to you." Nicole said, sitting in front of Waverly, at the kitchen table.  
"I'm listening, Nicole."  
"In a couple of hours, I'll gather the whole town in the main square. There's something everyone needs to hear. I hope you'll be there." Nicole said, looking the girl in the eyes, then she lowered her head, "I'm very scared, but time is short..." Nicole froze.  
"You're about to tell me something I'm not gonna like, right?" Waverly asked.  
"It's probable." Nicole nodded. "I always told you I would answer every question you asked, and so I did... but the answers almost never contained the truth. I lied to you so many times."  
"What are you talking about, Nicole? Why are we having this conversation? Why did you lie to me? About what?" Waverly felt the fear grow in her chest.  
"I would have kept lying, probably, but there's no more time. We're out of water."  
"Answer me, Nicole!" Waverly yelled, banging her hands on the table.  
"I'm sorry, Waverly..." Nicole kept keeping her eyes down. "I'm sorry about everything."  
"Nicole, you're really scaring me... what did you do?"  
"Doc's not dead... I threw him out of the dome..." Nicole risked choking herself. "I told him if he came back, I'd kill Wynonna."  
"That doesn't make sense! Have you lost your mind, Nicole? Are you on drugs?!" Waverly's voice trembled with terror.  
"I've never been more lucid..." Nicole replied, "I had to, he was getting in the way of my plans."  
"No one may pass through the dome! What the hell are you saying? And what the hell are you talking about?!"  
"People with pure souls can cross the dome. That's why I was so upset when you killed that man... for you to kill is wrong... inside you feel you deserve punishment... a stain on your soul."  
All Waverly could do was stay silent and stare at Nicole.  
"I lied to you about my true identity. I lied to you about the massacre of my adoptive family..." Nicole shook her head and finally looked up at Waverly, "I'm the one who killed them all...; I caused the mine to collapse; I ordered the doctor to kill hundreds of people, threatening to kill his little Alice; I sent Jared... I wanted to buy some time and make sure you didn't find out what really happened to Doc and the other two guys... I killed them, if you're wondering..."  
Waverly's eyes were wide open and filled with tears of horror.  
"I've done so many horrible things, Waverly. But I never meant to hurt you, never!"  
"Who are you...?" It was all Waverly could say.  
Nicole swallowed, "I am the daughter of Satan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe nobody cares, but I say it anyway.  
> "Perception of ourselves is only possible through the eyes of others." My ex told me a few years ago. I don't know where she got it from, but I've never been able to forget it.


	24. The End and Its Beginning - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys,  
> I recognize that this is barely a chapter, being very, very short...  
> Theoretically, the story was supposed to have 24 chapters, but it will have 25... I split it in two for comfort reasons, and I also wanted to update it so that I would no longer feel this anxiety of having disappeared into nowhere... so that I can work at the end of the story much more calmly and serenely. Avoid making a mess.  
> I'm really sorry for the long absence, my inability to write has been joined by many other external problems... I'm sorry. But thanks for still being here <3  
> I hope you're all okay, the world is a crazy place right now... wow, and I thought my head was a mess.  
> Anyway, see you soon and enjoy!

**24**

**  
**

**  
**

Wynonna was walking slowly by the side of the dome. She felt weak: the scarcity of water was beginning to create problems for her, but nothing would stop her from going to her beloved's grave... perhaps, yes, even letting herself die where he had found his end. Because that's how it would end, right? They'd all be dead within a few days... 

Waverly was staring at Nicole.  
Nicole was staring at Waverly.  
"What did you do, Nicole...?"  
Nicole Haught's soft features were twisted by the grimace of a bitter smile, "everything I considered right... that I believed was right, but I only deceived myself."  
Waverly remained silent for a few seconds, studying Nicole's brown eyes. Perhaps she was still looking for a trace of a joke, a joke of bad taste, but in Nicole's eyes there was only the frost of truth.  
"I feel pain for what I did... and I'm ready to atone for my sins." Nicole said, looking the girl in the eye.  
"I don't believe you..." Waverly's voice was just a whisper.  
Nicole smiled again, an even sadder and bitterer smile, "you're right. The only pain I feel is for myself... to be deprived of any chance of being somehow happy." She took a break, then said, "but I'll make it up to you. I'll find a way to save you."  
"I thought I knew you," Waverly said, "but I only saw what you wanted me to see... you broke my heart...! And I don't want to be saved by you... I won't let you cause any more pain." She shook her head, "no matter whether you are the Beast's daughter or not, evil is inside you... and everything you touch will die, always... now I can feel it."  
Nicole nodded and kept looking into her eyes.  
"What abomination have I welcomed into my home? To whom was I about to give my heart...? How-?" Waverly didn't finish the sentence, because Nicole said:  
"Were you going to give me your heart...?"  
"It doesn't matter any longer, not any more. Do you have any idea how much pain you've caused, Nicole? And I'm sure you haven't even told me the whole story... but it's enough what I know to despise you."  
"I don't blame you for that." Nicole looked away and she looked out the window, "I've decided to confess everything because... because this is probably a farewell, Waverly."  
The girl jumped up, away from the table and from Nicole. "Are you gonna kill me now, too?"  
From Nicole's lips escaped a verse that could be a laugh like a lament, "of course not. I want to save you, and I will save you... Waverly."  
"I don't trust you." Waverly kept backing away.  
"Never mind." Nicole got up too, "I just want you to know I'm so sorry. You're the only person I've ever really loved."  
"You love only yourself." Waverly's voice was a whisper full of fear and anger.  
Nicole nodded and turned her back.  
"Where do you think you're going?!" Waverly yelled, behind the redheaded woman's back.  
Nicole did not look back, "to do something right."  
"I won't let you leave." Waverly's voice was followed by a metallic noise. "Stop or I'll shoot."  
Nicole smiled, and she kept walking out of the room, "we've been here before, Waverly... you're not gonna shoot me." Nicole vanished into thin air.  
"Shit..."Waverly put the gun on the table, and she let herself slide on her knees. Her heart was beating painfully loud, hammering in her chest.


	25. The End and Its Beginning - Part 2

**Capitolo Finale**

Nicole appeared a mile and a half from the town of Purgatory. She needed to walk a little and calm down.  
Waverly believed her easily... she had no hesitation in believing that the horrors Nicole had confessed were the truth. Maybe Nicole was hurt, maybe she wasn't. Even she couldn't tell.  
But Waverly believed her even when she confessed her love... the only question now was, did she still believe it?  
Maybe it didn't matter. Their paths were about to separate forever.  
Despite everything, Nicole finally managed to smile: for the first time, a total defeat, it didn't seem so bad. Because, quite simply, that defeat meant the life and freedom of the woman she had discovered she loved. That made things tolerable, maybe right.  
Was it that desire that made her so evil? Or was it in her nature? Could Nicole really choose her actions? Probably, but then again, it didn't really matter anymore.  
Someone would have tried to kill her... Who? The town loved her, and Waverly, no matter what, would never hurt her, Nicole was sure of that. Nicole had to stay alive, because her death would send Waverly to hell with the town... Nicole wouldn't let that happen. She had to hold on just a few more hours, just a few more hours... and do the right thing, commit one last sin, the strangest one of all... and hope it was the right move. That's right. Nicole didn't know if her plan would work, but it was her last chance.  
A few more hours, she'd find out the truth about her mother, because apparently, Nicole didn't know...  
But guess what? It didn't matter at the time.  
Nicole started running, hoping that the fear would go away, at least a little bit.

  
<<<o>>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

Wynonna knelt down in front of the bike with a crooked wheel.  
"I'm back, as promised, my love..." she whispered as tears ran down her face.  
"Perhaps you can hear me. Perhaps not, but soon we will be together again." She smiled, and the salt of the tears that entered her mouth made her crave even more for a sip of water. "I really thought we would grow old together, you and I... my hair is already white, but it shouldn't be... I haven't spent enough time with you..." the sobs shook her fragile body.  
"You know, my love," Wynonna said, after she calmed down, but she couldn't say what she wanted to say, someone or something distracted her.  
"Beeeh!" Lucy came up behind Wynonna.  
"Hey, little one..." Wynonna turned to the goat and reached out to caress her snout, "I'm sorry, I don't have any water... I'd give it to you if I could."  
"Beeeeh!" Lucy grabbed the sleeve of Wynonna's jacket with her mouth, and she started pulling.  
"Some other time I'd tell you not to ruin my jacket, but right now I don't think that matters anymore, does it?" Wynonna asked, scratching the animal's snout.  
"Beeh!" Lucy pointed her front paws at the ground and she started pulling harder, "beeeh!" She went on and on, and she didn't stop holding Wynonna's sleeve in her teeth.  
"What are you doing?" The white-haired woman wrinkled her forehead, "you're gonna make me lose my balance..."  
"Beeeeeeh!!!!" Lucy started to pull back, pulling back the sleeve and Wynonna.  
"You want me to follow you?" Wynonna rolled her eyes, "shit, I'm talking to a goat..."  
"Beeeh!" This time Lucy's tone seemed outraged, and Wynonna noticed.   
"Do you understand me? No, of course not..."   
"Beeeh!" The fabric was about to tear.  
"Look, I really like you, but I'm trying to resign myself to death, and I'm doing it on my husband's grave."  
Lucy's teeth let go of the sleeve, "beeeh..."  
"Go graze some grass, I'm sure you can get some water." Wynonna turned back to the bike.  
Lucy kept backing away.  
Wynonna was focused on her husband again, so she didn't notice that Lucy was running head down towards her back.  
"Ouch!" Wynonna screamed, ending up with her butt on the grass, "did you give me a head butt?!"  
"Beeeh!" Lucy started backing away again.  
"Okay, okay!" Wynonna put her hands out in front of her, "I get it... I get it... I get it..."  
"Beeeh!" Lucy hit her hoof on the floor.  
"I'm right behind you!" Wynonna stood up, "fuck, I think I've completely lost my mind..."

  
<<<o>>><<<o>>><<o>>

"Are you going to hide back here forever?"  
Doc Holliday jumped from fright and risked falling over the bushes.  
"Damn, you scared the hell out of me...!" He said, looking at the old woman who had appeared behind him.  
"That was not my intention." The old woman smiled, looking at the man who, at the moment, looked even dirtier, thinner and older than her. "What are you doing?" The old woman knelt beside him, behind some bushes.  
"It's something too crazy to explain... making it simple, I'm watching my wife weep for my death." Only at that moment, the cowboy seemed to realize that there was something strange, "how did you get here? We're in the middle of nowhere... and why don't you look surprised by what you see?"  
The old woman showed her toothless smile, "it's hard to surprise someone like me."  
"Okay..." Doc turned to look at Wynonna again, "I wish I could tell her not to be sad..."  
"You can do it." The old woman said.  
"No... I can't do that, and forgive me if I don't tell you why, it's too long and complicated... I'm not even sure I fully understand..."  
"I know the whole story." The old woman said. "Nicole Haught will not harm Wynonna. It's safe to show yourself now."  
The man turned to the woman, "what...? Who the hell are you? Why are you talking like you're from the inside? Were you thrown out too?"  
"I come from everywhere and nowhere. But I assure you, young man, you can trust me."  
"No, no matter how kind or enigmatic you are... I can't risk putting Wynonna in danger... I would never do that." Doc looked at Wynonna, her lips moving, but he couldn't hear her voice. "And..." But he froze. The old woman was gone.  
He looked back at the dome and saw a goat coming up behind Wynonna.

  
<<<o>>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

It had taken Waverly several minutes to calm her heartbeat.  
What was the right thing to do now?  
Go into town and... What? Stop Nicole? But how could she stop a supernatural being...? What if Nicole wasn't lying this time? What if she really wanted to do something good?  
Or go to Wynonna and tell her about Doc, tell her he was still alive?  
Maybe the right thing to do was to curl up on the floor and wait for time to pass, and whatever their destiny was, to be accomplished.  
Was she to blame for that moment of weakness? Was she right to feel weak?  
Yes, she had the right, and she knew it.  
But Waverly Earp didn't stay on that floor, she got up. One step at a time, she chose the path to take.

  
<<<o>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

Nicole was on stage at the main square in Purgatory. The crowd had their eyes on her, and she could feel the weight of their looks on her skin.  
There were no people older than fifty, maybe sixty... no one in a wheelchair and no one on crutches or sticks. They were all dead... all dead. The suffering and mourning hovered over the crowd like a heavy black veil, Nicole thought it might crush her.  
"Nicole...?" Michael touched her arm, "whatever you want to say, we'll listen." He smiled encouragingly at her.  
Virginia smiled at Nicole too.  
-Stupid...-Nicole thought, -how stupid you are...-  
The crowd began to whisper, everyone wondered why Nicole hesitated to speak.  
"I need you to listen to me one last time." Nicole said, her voice trembled, perhaps in anger, perhaps in fear. "Without water you can't live, that's no secret. But there is a secret, and I am here to share it with you."  
The murmur got louder.  
"I won't get lost in explanations that would only waste our time. It is my intention to go straight to the point: some of you may leave the dome."  
The murmur became a roar.  
Nicole had to scream to be heard, "silence!"  
The crowd calmed down a little, but the agitated murmur did not end.  
"What do you mean we can leave?!" Someone shouted.  
"If we touch the dome, we'll die!" Someone else.  
"Who can leave the dome?!"   
"How long have you known about this secret?!" Virginia cried out.  
"Everybody shut up!" Nicole yelled. "Do you want a chance or not?!"  
The silence became sovereign again.  
"Good." Nicole nodded. "Those who are-" but the voice died in Nicole's throat when, letting her gaze wander over the crowd, her eyes met Waverly's green eyes. "...Pure of heart... they can leave..."   
The crowd roared again.  
"What are you saying?!"   
"Explain yourself!"   
"Speak, Nicole!"  
Nicole remained silent, watching Waverly.  
Waverly remained silent, watching Nicole.  
"We want an explanation!"  
"Nicole, we trust you! But you have to talk to us!"  
"Nicole!?"  
Nicole's lips moved, but no sound came out of her mouth. Moving, her lips had drawn the words, 'forgive me...' only then, Nicole left Waverly's eyes.  
"Alice, please come closer." Nicole reached out her hand to the little girl, who was looking at her with her mouth open.  
"You will not touch my daughter!" The doctor grabbed Alice's arm, who, confident, had reached out her hand to Nicole's.  
People looked at each other, trying to understand what was happening.  
"Please, I promise I won't hurt her. I'll try to save all of you, that's a promise, but you have to trust me." Nicole knelt down, lowering herself to the doctor's eye level. "You have no choice. The water won't come back. You can choose to die of thirst or trust me."  
"I'd rather die than trust you. You're a snake." The doctor hissed, looking at Nicole with hate.  
"This is the last time I ask you to trust me!" Nicole raised her voice, "I want to save you all! I only know two ways to do that, and I'm not sure of one. So I want those who are innocent to be saved with absolute certainty!"  
"What are the ways to save us?" A woman asked.  
Nicole sighed, "the first one, the one I'm absolutely certain it will work, is to bring out the pure-hearted people."  
"What about the second one?" It was the same woman talking.  
Nicole hesitated, and watched Waverly, "end my life, voluntarily..."  
The crowd cried and roared.  
Confusion and fear reigned supreme.

<<<o>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

"Away or I'll kill her..." Wynonna read the writing in blood. "What does that mean...?"  
"Beeeh...!" Lucy started hitting the hoof against the ground, just a few steps away from Wynonna.  
The white-haired woman approached and, kneeling down, saw dried blood, which had remained because the weather had not been able to act.  
"What's this?" The woman's hand grabbed a wallet and opened it.  
"It belongs to one of the missing guys... but why is there a bullet hole...?"  
Wynonna looked up at the sign again, "someone killed those guys... someone who could touch the dome..."  
Wynonna's mind was working hard as each piece slowly went into place.  
"The only person who ever touched the dome and survived is... Nicole..."  
"Beeeh!" Lucy seemed thrilled.  
"Also, this wallet belongs to one of the guys who was with Henry and Nicole that day... the day he..."  
Wynonna took her head in her hands, "no...!"  
"Beeeh!" Lucy started jumping, "beeeh!"  
Wynonna looked up, and beyond the dome, she saw her love... thin, dirty and old... but alive...  
"What...?"  
One thought became too strong to be ignored, in Wynonna's mind. She started running.

  
<<<o>>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

"Why should your suicide save us?!"  
"Who are you?!"  
"We want an explanation!"  
"How do you know this will work?!"  
"Nicole...?" Waverly joined the doctor and Alice, "Nicole...?" She looked her in the eye, "what are you doing...?"  
Nicole smiled, "I'm trying to save you. Help me to do it..."  
"What...?" Waverly shook her head, "I don't know if I can trust you... I don't know if I want to..." she admitted.  
"I lost, Waverly... I lost everything... but I can still do something good. Please, death will come anyway... please."  
Waverly's eyes filled with tears, "you tricked me... you hurt me... you did things... God... so sadistic and evil..."  
"Let me make it up to you..." Nicole whispered.  
"Daddy, this lady is not lying." Alice said, focusing on Nicole's blue eye, "she's a magical creature, like those in Wonderland, look at her."  
"She' s a snake." The doctor said, "we can't trust her. She's evil."   
Alice shook her head, "She's not bad, she's hurt and alone..."   
Nicole, Waverly and the doctor looked at the girl without knowing what to say.  
Even the crowd was silent, as if everyone was holding their breath.  
Alice grabbed Nicole's hand, "I trust you."  
"Alice!" The doctor was still holding the little one by the arm, "no."  
"Let her try..." Waverly said, "the alternative is certain death..."  
Nicole looked the young girl in the eye, "thank you, Waverly..."  
"You don't know what horrible things this woman has done!" The doctor yelled.  
Waverly smiled, a sad, tired smile, "I know better than anyone..."  
"Daddy, let go of my arm..." Alice said.  
Michael and Virginia remained silent, trying to figure out what was really going on. But eventually, they chose to come offstage and join the crowd below the stage.  
Alice's little hand was still covered by Nicole's big, "pull me up." Alice said, looking at Nicole.  
"I can't lose her!" The doctor hadn't let go yet.  
"She'll be saved, I promise." Nicole said, looking the doctor right in the eye.  
"I'll come looking for you in hell." He let go of Alice's arm.  
"I know you will." Nicole raised Alice.  
"Nicole, please... just don't break me..." Waverly said, "not again..."  
"I won't do it." Nicole got up, took Alice in her arms.  
She looked at the crowd and, lifting Alice like Simba in The Lion King, she said, "this brave little girl will show you that those who are pure can pass on!"  
Nicole turned around and, continuing to hold Alice in her arms, she jumped off the stage approaching what was once the hospital of Purgatory.   
She stopped a few steps from the dome.  
"Are you ready to save the city?" Nicole asked, allowing Alice's feet to touch the ground again.  
"Can my daddy come too?" Alice asked, looking beyond Nicole.  
"I promise I'll do everything I can to reunite you."  
"Are we really going to use a little girl as a guinea pig?!"   
"What do we do if it doesn't work?"  
"This is madness!"  
"Let them try!"  
"I'm not willing to watch a little girl die!"  
"Nicole knows what she's doing!"  
The crowd had gone crazy again.  
"No one has yet explained to me why this woman's death should set us all free!"  
"What if we kill her? At this point, I would try! She's the one who said her death will save us!"  
"Nobody's gonna kill Nicole!"  
"Nicole!"  
"If you kill me, the whole city will fall into hell!" Nicole yelled, so that everyone would hear her, "this dome is here to test us all! I am not lying, I promise you that when all those who are pure of heart will be out, I will take my own life! I will try to save you all!"  
"I don't understand!"  
"This doesn't make any sense!"  
"Who are you? Why are you so important?"  
"I have neither the time nor the inclination to answer your questions!" Nicole shouted, "you have no choice but to trust me! This kid is proof that I'm not lying, that I'm trying to save you!"  
"Let's get it over with, let her do it!"  
"Nicole, we trust you!"  
"We're all gonna die! This is madness!"  
"Quiet!" It was Waverly who yelled, "everyone shut up for a moment!" Then she walked up to Nicole and whispered, "You're gonna die, Nicole... will you?"  
The woman smiled, "you don't have to pretend to care... I know I've been evil, I know I deserve your hatred..."  
"I don't want to hate you, Nicole..." she whispered, "if what you say is true, if you really want to sacrifice your life for us... I... I can't forgive you, but I see good in you now... I don't want you to die."  
"I am the cause of my own pain..." Nicole answered.  
"I feel so confused..." Waverly admitted, "part of me would like to see you suffer and die... the other would like to be able to save you..."  
"I'm sorry, Waverly. You didn't deserve to cross your path with my..."  
"What are we waiting for?!"  
"Do we really want this?"  
"Who's to say it'll work?!"  
Nicole looked at Alice, "it's time. Be brave!"  
"Promise me you'll really do anything to save my daddy." Alice's eyes filled with tears, she probably now understood the enormity and importance of what she was about to do.  
"I promise you." Nicole nodded, "you're the bravest little girl I've ever met. You deserve a long and happy life, and I'll do everything in my power to make sure of that."  
"One day we'll go to Wonderland, won't we?"  
"I'll ensure that you find the rabbit hole and no evil queen stands in your way..." Nicole smiled at her.  
"Alice..." the doctor's voice was broken by the crying and the emotion, as he approached to greet her, "forgive me, child." He held her in his arms.  
"It's okay, Daddy." Alice walked away from him, "I'm ready."  
"This is madness!"  
"I don't want to look!"  
" Go, Alice!"  
"Okay, just walk towards the dome." Nicole said, placing one hand on Alice's shoulder.  
"Can I keep my eyes closed?" Alice asked, trying to control her fear.  
"You can do anything you want." Nicole smiled at her.  
"Okay..." Alice nodded, she closed her eyes and started walking towards the barrier.  
Everyone held their breath.  
Moments later, the crowd roared.  
Alice was on the other side greeting the prisoners.  
"Only those pure of heart!" Nicole shouted, seeing that almost everyone was going towards the dome.  
Within seconds there was chaos.  
Some managed to get to the other side, others were incinerated.  
Many others stood by and watched, including Michael and Virginia.  
"Don't you guys think you can do this?" Nicole asked.  
Virginia stepped forward, "we've been with you from the beginning... even if it looks like you've done something evil, which I don't know, I'll stay until the end."  
"The same goes for me." Michael said, "your ass will go down, but we're not leaving you."  
Nicole started shaking, "I fooled you too..."  
"It doesn't matter... you never hurt us..." Virginia answered.  
"That's right." Michael nodded, "we were alone and marginalized, but you gave us something to believe in, something to work and live for."  
"This hurts like hell..." Nicole had never experienced genuine loyalty, it was a strange feeling.  
"We know you'll save us..." Virginia said, "and I'm sorry you have to die, I'm really sorry."  
"Okay, it's time." Nicole took the gun out of her holster.  
"Nicole, wait...!" Waverly approached the woman, "are you sure about this?"  
Nicole smiled, "no, not at all. But really it's the only solution I could find. Dying trying to save you is enough for me."  
"You don't even know if it'll work..." Waverly struggled to hold back the tears.  
"If this doesn't work... I'll take care of you in hell... that's a promise."  
Waverly was about to say something, but the roar of an engine, followed by a door closing violently, stopped her.  
"YOU!" Wynonna walked in among the few people left with a shotgun pointed at Nicole, "I'll kill you!"  
"No! Wynonna, stop! If you shoot her, it's over!" Waverly screamed, but it was too late. Wynonna pulled the trigger.  
Virginia and Michael disarmed Wynonna, who was fighting to free herself and yelled at Nicole, "you made me believe he was dead! Bitch, I hope you rot in hell!" Wynonna would have certainly added more, but Michael punched her. Wynonna fell to her knees, still held by the two of them.  
"Let her go! Don't hurt her!" Nicole ordered, "let her go..." she fell to her knees while a big red stain spread across her shirt.  
"Nicole!" Waverly knelt beside the woman, supporting her body, "Nicole..."  
"It's all right... Waverly..." Nicole struggled to talk while blood gushed out of her mouth. "I did all this... I did all this to... love..." she spit blood while coughing, "I wanted to be loved... I just wanted to be loved... create my own little world... be the hero of the fairy tale... be loved..."  
The ground began to shake as if a powerful earthquake was shaking the bowels of the earth.  
"I wanted... I wanted people to love me... I did all this... I never wanted to be alone again..."  
"Damn it, Nicole..." Waverly accompanied Nicole's weaker and weaker body to the ground, "damn it!"  
"I wanted to be loved..." she put the gun to her head and, looking Waverly in the eye, "try not to die..."   
The shot deafened Waverly for a few moments.  
The ground stopped shaking.  
"The dome is gone!"  
"We are free!"  
"Hurray!"  
"Nicole?!"  
" She saved us! Nicole saved us!"  
"It really worked...!"  
"Nicole!"  
"Thank you... Nicole..." Waverly caressed Nicole's face and bid her farewell.

<<<o>>><<<o>>><<<o>>>

  
"Hi, Kiddo."   
"Father." Nicole advanced on the huge man.  
"You look angry." Satan said.  
"I am, Father, I am... you owe me an explanation."  
He laughed loudly, "I knew this moment would come."  
"Start talking. I was too altruistic today. I want answers, and I'm gonna get them." Nicole crossed her arms to her chest.  
"Oh, that... kiddo, that was so much fun!"  
"That was hilarious. But I can assure you, this is only the beginning of my story. Now let's sit down. We have a lot to talk about."

**To Be Continued...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know where to start, so I'll be simple.  
> Thank you, thank you so much for taking this trip with me! Thank you for your support and sweetness, thank you for your patience with my not yet perfect English. Sometimes, rereading other texts, I realize that some things don't make much sense in English, but none of you have ever judged me, choosing to appreciate my efforts in a language I'm still learning, thank you! <3  
> This isn't exactly the happy ending you might have been thinking about, but the story isn't over, a part of the story is over: the first one.  
> Really, thank you to all those who have left me compliments, who have commented or just read my story, thank you!  
> Ancora, grazie mille <3  
> See you soon,
> 
> -Aurora


End file.
